A 19-year-old Dutch influencer who spent five years documenting her battle with a rare form of cancer has died. Jade Kops passed away on April 24 at 5:50 AM, surrounded by her loved ones, her family announced on her Instagram account.
Just two weeks before her death, the young content creator penned an extraordinary open letter, written directly to the tumor in her throat. She called it her “annoying tumor” and begged it to slow down. “You pull me a day closer to death, but I don’t want to leave just yet,” she wrote. “I still want to be here. Stay for a while, feel for a while and be close to the people I love.”
Kops was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that typically affects children under 10 and starts in soft muscle tissue. She was only 14 years old. Rather than retreating from the diagnosis, she started a blog called “mijnlevenmetkanker”, my life with cancer, and soon built an Instagram following of nearly 450,000 people who watched her navigate chemo, radiation, and the brutal reality of adolescent illness.
She endured nine rounds of chemotherapy and 28 radiation sessions in her first round of treatment alone. The tumor shrank, then returned. It shrank again, then grew back. In the summer of 2024, doctors delivered the news no teenager should hear: there were no more treatment options.
Kops refused to let her diagnosis define her legacy as simply tragic. She wrote a bestselling autobiography titled “Voor Altijd Jong”, Forever Young, about finding light while dying. She raised more than 2 million euros for the Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology, a leading childhood cancer research facility.
Alongside her parents, she founded Villa Jade, a foundation that offers cancer patients and their families a place to escape and catch their breath in ‘s-Gravenzande. Queen Máxima herself visited the retreat, having followed Jade’s journey for years. In 2024, Kops became the youngest person ever appointed a Member of the Order of Orange-Nassau, a royal honor recognizing her extraordinary contributions.
In her final letter posted on April 6, Kops described her deteriorating reality without flinching. “The symptoms are increasing, and as a result, I am deteriorating rapidly,” she wrote. “Things that used to work now require effort or are impossible altogether. My days are spent in bed, while I lie hooked up to four medication pumps. Every night, I am afraid of not waking up the next morning. I am living in the biggest nightmare I can possibly imagine.”
She wrote about visiting a cemetery to choose her own burial plot. “It feels like I am touching something I don’t want to be at all yet,” she reflected in a separate post. “I am now even more grateful for every morning that I wake up.”
Her family announced that the burial will take place in private, but supporters are invited to form an honor guard on May 1 in Naaldwijk. “Deeply saddened and incredibly proud of our brave daughter and sister,” the family wrote, “we wish to let you know that Jade passed away this morning.”
She was 19 years old. She wanted more time. She was not ready to go. Her followers are making sure she is not forgotten.
