Longtime YouTuber Jessica Pettway, 36, passed away on March 13 from cervical cancer after previously being misdiagnosed.

The content creator, wife, and mother of two — known on social media for her beauty and hair videos — died around nine months after she shared her cervical cancer diagnosis with her over 160,000 Instagram followers in July 2023. Her beauty and memory will be survived by her husband of twelve years, Michael, her two daughters, Kailee, 10, and Zoi Lee, 3, and the over 230,000 who followed her on YouTube.

Jessica's younger sister, Reyni Brown, revealed the YouTuber's passing on March 15, according to E! Online.

Alongside a photo of her and Jessica, Reyni reportedly shared on her private Instagram account that the YouTuber was "the most amazing, strong, confident" woman.

"It's my birthday today, and the only thing I could ever wish for is for God to bring you back on this earth," the grieving sister wrote in the caption of her Instagram post. "I lost my beautiful big sister two days ago and my heart has never felt pain like this."

In the lengthy caption and comments of a July 2023 Instagram post, Jessica revealed around a year prior, she'd suffered "intense vaginal bleeding," fatigue, and feeling weak. She noted that after asking other women about her symptoms and hearing about their similar experiences, she thought her symptoms were "normal" issues "that most women go through."

"Well, on July 1, 2022 at 4 a.m., my husband found me in the bathroom unresponsive and not breathing. I had literally passed away. He called on Jesus to bring me back and I came back. I was rushed to the hospital, where they told me that the extreme blood loss was due to 'fibroids.' My gyno made it seem like it was so normal and common. I didn't think much of it, however I was passing clots the size of a placenta, which was really alarming. They kept me overnight and released me the next day. Fast forward to July 22, I was hospitalized again for the same thing. Again, the medical professionals treated it like it was not that alarming since it was just a 'fibroid.'"

She struggled with vaginal bleeding later that year and "labor like pains," noting that her "life became so limited. Following a traumatic hospital stay in January 2023, she had an appointment wherein a female doctor said she couldn't see Jessica's cervix because "it was blocked by a huge mass." After a biopsy the following month, Jessica received the news that she had stage 3 cervical cancer.

"It turns out, it was not a fibroid, but cancer. I was misdiagnosed all this time," Jessica recalled in the comments of her July 2023 Instagram post. "The symptoms grew stronger. The hospital became my second home. By February 2023, I had had over 18 blood transfusions. 18!! I lost weight, I felt weak and overall couldn't understand why. Why me Lord? What did I do to deserve this?"

Jessica relayed how her steadfast Christian faith helped her through the distressing diagnosis and emotional toll she suffered. By April 2023, a few months before sharing her cancer battle with the world, she started regaining her appetite and mobility. She seemed hopeful that regardless of her cancer diagnosis, she remained divinely blessed and saved.

Jessica's last YouTube video was a "Big 70s Hair Tutorial" posted in June 2022. In the latest comments left underneath the nearly two-year-old video, social media users have expressed condolences about the passing of the "YouTube OG" and wishes that she rest in peace.

In January 2022, the Human Rights Watch organization claimed Black American women die of cervical cancer at "a disproportionately high rate" and are most likely to die from the disease than any other racial group in the country. Additionally, Black American women "have a higher risk of late-stage diagnosis."

The population-specific information is particularly troubling, considering that if cervical cancer is caught early, "the five-year survival rate is over 90%," according to the organziation.

Dr. Olivia Cardenas-Trowers, a urogynecologist, reportedly told the Mayo Clinic News Network that the disparity in cervical cancer deaths between Black and white women in the U.S. is related to the socio-economic and systematic racism Black American women face, particularly in healthcare.

Since early-stage cervical cancer may not come with noticeable symptoms, Dr. Cardenas-Trowers reportedly emphasized the importance of women going in for routine pap smears where they can be screened for the disease.

Prevention and early detection can truly be lifesaving.

"It's really in later-stage cervical cancer where you can see things like abnormal vaginal bleeding and pain, in general, or with intercourse," the doctor told the source.

#AMAKACohortFeb2024