Who was Jessica Pettway? Family confirms beauty influencer's death in wake of cervical cancer misdiagnosis

Jessica Pettway, a social media influencer, passed away recently at the age of 36. She succumbed to stage three cervical cancer as per her sister Reyni Brown’s private Instagram (@reyni_daniela) post on March 15, 2023, which was exclusively obtained by E! Online.

"It's my birthday today, and the only thing I could ever wish for is for God to bring you back on this earth. I lost my beautiful big sister 2 days ago and my heart has never felt pain like this," Jessica Pettway’s sister wrote alongside a photo of herself and the former.

Brown referred to her late sister as “the most amazing, strong, confident” woman, who she said filled her life with “so much wisdom, prayed for me, and helped me become a better mother.”

"Life will never be the same without her crazy laugh, pranks, or jokes. Losing a sibling feels like a connection between us was destroyed. I love you with all my heart," Reyni Brown further wrote in the caption.

Discussing how she was misdiagnosed, Jessica Pettway announced the result of her biopsy in a lengthy Instagram post last year.

"On Feb. 8th, 2023, he (oncologist) performed an outpatient biopsy on me. When I woke up from the anesthesia, he casually said, 'Yep you have stage 3 cervical cancer.' It turns out, it was not a fibroid, but cancer. I was misdiagnosed all this time," wrote Pettway.

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Jessica Pettway was a mother of two

Primarily known as a YouTuber focusing on beauty, fashion, and lifestyle content, Jessica Pettway had over 228,000 subscribers on the platform, which she joined in November 2013. She was popular for her travel vlogs, tutorials, and transformation videos.

At the time of her demise, she had 441 videos on her channel with more than 16 million views.

“Hey Ya'll it's Jessica! Welcome! I started this channel to share my love for fashion, beauty, and hair. Being a mom does not have to stop you from being fab! So, stick around as I share beauty, fashion, hair, and lifestyle videos all while being a busy mom!," Jessica's YouTube description read.

She also thanked everyone for “tuning in” while adding how she appreciated her followers’ support and urging new people to subscribe to her channel to get notifications for her new videos.

Jessica Pettway was also active on Instagram, with 152,000 followers and 4407 posts, and identified herself as a digital creator. She first shared her cancer diagnosis via an Instagram post last year.

"I was diagnosed with stage 3 [cervical] cancer. I don't even know where to begin, but I want to share why I've been gone for so long, in hopes that at least one person is encouraged by my story," Pettaway began her lengthy post.

She mentioned how she was originally misdiagnosed with fibroids (non-cancerous tumors growing in the uterus, as per Mayo Clinic) exactly a year ago and was hospitalized several times within a gap of weeks. Throughout her hospital visits from July 2022 to January 2023, she was given the same diagnosis. In February, Pettway consulted an oncologist.

Pettway was diagnosed with advanced cancer in February 2023, following blood transfusions and a biopsy. In her post, Jessica added that “being told I have cancer didn’t devastate me,” but rather the reaction of her loved ones, which left her disheartened.

“I knew that God is my healer and that no weapon formed against me, not even cancer, would prosper. I knew that I was more than a conqueror and that I would get through this,” Pettway added.

In August last year, Jessica Pettway took to Instagram to share her life update alongside a picture of her family.

"Anytime you're dealing with an illness, it not only affects you, but it also changes the lives of those closest to you. This year rocked our world. From the countless hospital stays. To the financial strain. We've been through it all! The girls are too young to understand, yet they noticed the changes," she wrote.

The YouTuber added how seeing her husband “break down” was hard, but they were committed to “getting through this together” and not letting the circumstances “overtake us.”

Apart from her beauty, fashion, travel, and lifestyle content, Jessica Pettway also shed light on her family life with her husband of twelve years Michael (they met in a mall as teenagers) and daughters, 10-year-old Kailee and 3-year-old Zoi Lee.