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Inspiring YouTube star earns “her wings” after cancer battle

After a six-year battle with cancer, Talia Joy Castellano passed away today at age 13.

 

Audra Schroeder

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Posted on Jul 16, 2013   Updated on Jun 1, 2021, 11:16 am CDT

After a six-year battle with cancer, Talia Joy Castellano, the Florida girl who gained popularity for her vibrant YouTube makeup tutorials, passed away today at age 13.

According to a message on her Facebook page, she “earned her wings” around 11:30am. She had been in the hospital for more than two months and was battling both neuroblastoma and leukemia. Her last blog, back in May, detailed the hospital experience.

Her YouTube page was part make-up tutorial, part teenage experience, and part window into the mind of a young girl facing cancer. She was often frank about her experience; she skipped the wig, instead writing “makeup is my wig” on her head. She gained even more popularity after appearing on Ellen DeGeneres’s show last year and was made an honorary CoverGirl.

Screenshot via taliajoy18/YouTube

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*First Published: Jul 16, 2013, 6:19 pm CDT