Mum's Heartbreaking Fear Before Bowel Cancer Took Her Life at 39

Updated 17:26 26 Oct 2026 GMTPublished 12:21 26 Oct 2026 GMT

Krystal Maeyke described herself as 'fit' and 'healthy' prior to her shocking and tragic diagnosis

A woman shared the main reason she did not 'want to leave this Earth early' months before she died of bowel cancer at the age of 39.

Krystal Maeyke died of cancer on 5 July 2025 at the age of 39, around two years after she first noticed that something felt off about her health.

Prior to passing away Krystal had used her cancer to help raise awareness of the condition, including some basic things that people can do to help protect themselves from the condition.

Taking to her TikTok page, Krystal revealed that the thing she feared the most was that her son would have to grow up without a mother.

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She shared two pictures to her page, the first captioned with the question 'what's your biggest fear?', with the second showing a picture of her son with the heartbreaking caption 'leaving him behind'.

Krystal passed away on 5 July 2025 (TikTok/@stoneinthe0cean)

Underneath the carousel of pictures, she also wrote a caption, which said: "To be a mum is the most precious gift. And I do not want to leave this Earth early because he needs me here."

She went on to say that she had wanted to go on 'so I can make more memories with my son', adding: "I want him to remember me…"

Krystal, who described herself as 'fit, healthy, exercising daily and eating a wholesome, balanced diet' had previously shared some of the symptoms she hadn't realised were linked to her cancer for around three months prior to her being diagnosed.

"I thought it wasn't anything sinister," she told the Daily Mail.

In May 2023 Krystal was taken from her home in Australia by air ambulance to the Alice Springs Hospital.

"I underwent a series of tests. That’s when I knew it was something serious," she said.

Stats on bowel cancer in the UK (LADbible)

Then came the awful, crushing news about what was happening.

She said: "I was woken up later that night by a doctor whose words I will never forget. 'Krystal, I've got bad news...You have cancer'."

Unfortunately, things only got worse from there, as Krystal would later be told that after originating in her bowel the cancer had metastasised 'everywhere' including her liver, ovaries, abdomen, as well as finding out that it had caused a stabbing pain, and that a lump under her skin was a tumour.

"Never in a million years would I think that I would have this cruel disease in my body trying to kill me," she said. "Cancer hurts."

Not only that, but Krystal realised that the cancer had also been the cause of other things she had experienced over the previous months, but had brushed off.

For example, she said that she felt 'tired all day, everyday', but had assumed that this had simply been because she was a 'busy mum' who was juggling a lot of things in her life, as well as assuming that troubles with going to the toilet had been due to irritable bowel syndrome.

She had said she 'thought it wasn't anything sinister' when she started feeling unexplained pain (TikTok/@stoneinthe0cean)

Krystal also warned of other symptoms that she had experienced prior to being diagnosed.

"I would wake up during the night drenched in sweat, enough so I had to change clothes and sheets. Some nights it would happen a few times," she said.

"It was summertime and I slept with the air con on and a fan, so I just thought it was my air con not keeping up with the summer heat. So I ignored this sign.

"The relationship between night sweats and cancer is unclear. However, researchers believe multiple factors may be involved.

"Your body’s fight against cancer is one of them. Another is changes in hormone levels caused by the cancer and your body’s response."

Before her passing Krystal started a GoFundMe to help raise money for her young son Maison, which is still active. You can take a look here.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.

Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@stoneinthe0cean

Topics: News, Australia, Bowel cancer, Health