“F!ck Cancer.”
Those two words – with so much meaning and emotion behind them – were the ones mega-influencer Alix Earle placed over a video post on social media, revealing that her mom, Alisa, had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Alisa is from Wisconsin and her side of the family still lives here, Alix has shared online over the years.
The video was made up of clips of Alix visiting her mom at a New Jersey hospital: Alix doing Alisa’s hair, holding her mom’s hand, buying a pint of ice cream, having drinks – ginger ale cans open on the overbed table – and watching Jan. 8’s Miami vs. Ole Miss Fiesta Bowl game. The University of Miami – which won with a last-minute touchdown – is Alix’s alma mater.
Ashtin, Alix’s sister and fellow internet personality, is in several of the clips, sitting in a chair next to Alisa’s hospital bed.
“Go momma! So proud and inspired by you no challenge you can’t face and come back stronger .. I love you! #breastcancerawareness,” Alix captioned the Jan. 11 post.
The video was backed by the moving song “I’m Still Here” by Sia and these inspiring words voiced over it: “Strong women never give up. We might need a coffee, we might need a good cry, we might need a day in bed. But, we will always come back stronger.”
“This is what she was struggling with during DWTS..” one TikTok user commented on the video.
“We found out abt halfway through the season and she still showed up every week ,” Alix replied to the comment.
Alix and her pro partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, were the runners-up on Season 34 of “Dancing with the Stars,” which wrapped at the end of November.
Alisa had been shown in the “DWTS” audience throughout the season. And, on finale night, when video messages from the stars’ loved ones aired ahead of the results, Alisa had this one for her daughter:
“You’ve been so determined and I just know you’re going to win the whole thing,” Alisa said in the video.
A TikTok Ashtin posted a few days ago shows Alix dancing in front of the hospital bed as a basketball game played on the TV behind her.
“the hospital now comes with bedside entertainment,” Ashtin captioned it.
During a late December GRWM (get ready with me) for bed video, Earle said that she and Ashtin had spent the day after Christmas in the hospital with their mom.
“She’s going through something right now with her health,” Alix said in the video. “So, she was meeting with one of the doctors that is going to help her with her surgery. Get it taken care of. Just honestly, that day was a little hard for me.”
Alix said she was going to be back home in New Jersey the first week of January for her mom’s surgery.
“you. never. know. the. silent. battles. people. are. fighting. ,” a TikTok user said in a comment that’s been liked nearly 23,000 times.
“This was also something we found out about while I was on “Dancing with the Stars,'” Alix said in the video. “So that was just like another one of the things I was dealing with.”
Alix revealed another personal, and emotional, life update in a Dec. 13 TikTok. She tearfully confirmed that she and Houston Texans wide receiver Braxton Berrios had broken up, but were “on good terms.” They had been dating for around two years, but hadn’t seen much of each other since June.
“There hasn’t felt like a right time or way to speak on this but I just wanted to sit and talk from the heart the best I can right now,” Alix wrote in the caption.
On Christmas Day, Alix shared more big personal news on social media. She officially adopted Asia, a dog who had spent 495 days in a shelter before Alix had fostered her.
A few days ago, Earle posted a TikTok, talking about being in four countries in two days, which included a “pretty off the grid” work trip that she’ll be able to share more about later this year.
In that video, she shared that her mom was at a New Jersey hospital for an operation.
“I may or may not talk more about this this week,” Alix said in the video. “I just want to see how everything goes. And, first of all, just be there for her.”
She said this was something she had “a few cries” over during her travels.
“Her boyfriend and my sister have been with her this morning,” Alix said in the video. “So, we’re going to pick her up tomorrow morning from the hospital because we are going to be taking care of her.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Alix Earle’s mom, Alisa – who’s from Wisconsin – diagnosed with cancer
Reporting by Hannah Kirby, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
