Daniella Thackray took her eulogy into her own hands.
The 25-year-old’s family shared the news of her death on Facebook and LinkedIn February 23, using a message she’d written herself about her battle with cholangiocarinoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer that grows in the ducts that transport bile from your liver to the small intestine, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
“If you’re reading this,” Daniella began her note, “then it means I have died from my battle with cancer and my family are posting my final message on my behalf.”
The Leeds, U.K. native went on to explain that “not all cancers are caused by lifestyle choices,” and that despite her “being healthy and active,” she developed a form of cancer “which was not caused by anything in my control and my life was never the same again.”
She added that there was “no cure” for her diagnosis, but she hoped that, “in the years to come more research is done about this horrid cruel disease so that more lives can be saved.”