Shanice had thousands of supporters on TikTok who were following her journey
A police officer who documented her battle with incurable breast cancer has died, aged 26. Shanice Bennett built a following of more than 39,000 people on TikTok, where she shared honest updates about her treatment and urged young women to “touch, look and check” their breasts.
The serving City of London Police officer died peacefully at home on Thursday surrounded by her loved ones, her family has announced. They said: “Yesterday was a difficult day where we had to say goodbye to our beautiful Shanice. She passed away peacefully within the comfort of her home surrounded by us family.”
Shanice had been living with cancer since she was 23. She was initially diagnosed with stage-three invasive ductal carcinoma, a type of breast cancer. The disease later progressed to stage four and spread to her bones, liver, lungs and lymph nodes.
Despite her diagnosis, Shanice continued documenting her experience online, with her TikTok videos attracting more than two million likes. In February, she revealed tumours in her liver had worsened and her existing treatment had stopped working.
Shanice said her liver had become extremely inflamed, making it difficult for her to breathe. Doctors proposed treating her with the cancer drug Enhertu.
But Shanice said she was not eligible to receive it through the NHS in England at the time because of her breast cancer hormone type. Her family launched a fundraiser to pay for the treatment, attracting more than 2,700 donations.
It raised £41,076 towards its £45,000 target. Her family said the support enabled Shanice to undergo the treatment and gave them precious additional time together. They wrote: “Without your support she wouldn’t of had the opportunity to go on her latest treatment Enhertu and it has given us that extra time as a family to make so many lovely memories.”
They added that Shanice found comfort in knowing the drug had subsequently become available to eligible patients in England. Paying tribute, her family recalled one of Shanice’s defiant final messages.
They said: “One thing she said was ‘cancer isn’t winning this fight, I will be bringing it down with me’ and that is exactly what she’s done.”
Heartbroken followers have also flooded TikTok with tributes.
One person wrote: “You fought hard Shanice. Rest well now.” Another said: “Been a silent watcher for ages. Absolutely heartbreaking. Rest in peace beautiful girl.”
A third person added: “Rest peacefully beautiful girl.”
