Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson is mourning the death of her eldest sister, Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell.
“This is a post I wish I didn’t have to make 💔” Thompson, 18, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, December 10. “Last night we all surrounded Anna with love and let her know it was okay to go. Sadly, Anna breathed her last around 11pm.”
She continued: “Anna was in so much pain last night but now we all know as a family that she is now at peace. I really don’t know what to say because my heart is completely broken. It hasn’t been easy watching my 29-year-old sister battle this terrible disease over the past year. Anna was a fighter and still is.”
The sisters’ mother, Mama June Shannon, announced earlier on Sunday that Cardwell had died at the age of 29. Cardwell, who battled stage IV cancer, is survived by her two daughters, her mother and her siblings. (Mama June, 44, shared Cardwell and Jessica Shannon27, with David Dunn, Lauryn ‘Pumpkin’ Efird23, with Michael Anthony Ford and Alana with Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson.)
Alana, for her part, is especially sad about nieces Kaitlyn and Kaylee. (Anna shared Kaylee, 8, with ex-husband Michael Cardwellwhile Kaitlyn’s biological father, 11, has never been publicly revealed.)
“Lord, please wrap your arms around her two babies and our family as in the coming days this will all become a reality,” said the Here comes honey Boo Boo alum added this in her Sunday tribute before addressing her sister directly. “I’m so glad you waited until I got home to take your last breaths!” I would have loved for you to see me graduate, but I know you will cheer me on forever in heaven!
Alana added: “We will all make sure your legacy lives on forever. And I promise to always make sure we celebrate our anniversary as if you never left! The sky looks a little different today. We will always love you, Anna. You hit me hard with this, Anna, but I know yours [sic] now in a better place and pain free forever!”
Anna was diagnosed with adrenal carcinoma in January and underwent multiple chemotherapy treatments.
“This chemo treatment was a little different,” Mama June shared exclusively We weekly in May. ‘She sleeps more. It was quite tough this round. I can imagine that if I feel like her mother, she also feels like someone who has to live with it day in and day out.”
By July, Anna’s cancer was terminal.