Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell— the oldest daughter of Mama June Shannon— has died.
The former Here Comes Honey Boo Boo star— who also made appearances on her family’s WEtv show Mama June: Road to Redemption— passed away on Saturday after a nearly year-long battle with Stage 4 cancer. She was only 29 years old.
Mama June— as well as other members of the family— announced the sad news on social media on Sunday. The announcement came just one day after Mama June told her followers that Anna was going through a “transition” and had taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks.
“With the breaking heart, we are announcing that [Anna] is no longer with us,” June wrote on Instagram. “She passed away in my home last night peacefully at 11:12 p.m. She gave one hell of a fight for 10 months, she passed away with her family around her…”
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Anna— who has two young daughters, Kaitlyn and Kylee— was able to go on a final family vacation to Tennessee last week before she died. The entire family was able to go, except for Anna’s youngest sister, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, who is away at college in Colorado.
Alana wrote that she was able to make it home to be with Anna before she passed.
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“This is one post I wish I didn’t have to make,” she wrote. “Last night we all surrounded Anna with love & let her know it was okay to go. Unfortunately around 11 pm Anna took her last breath. Anna was in so much pain last night but now as a family we all know she is at peace now. I really don’t know what to say as my heart is completely broken.
“Watching my 29 year old sister this last year battle this horrible disease hasn’t been easy,” Alana continued. “Anna was a fighter & still is. Lord please wrap your arms around her 2 babies & our family as the next couple of days will make this all a reality. I’m so glad that you waited til I was home to take your last breath! I would’ve loved for you to get to see me graduate college but I know you will forever cheer me on in heaven!
“We will all make sure your legacy lives on forever. And I promise to always make sure to celebrate our birthday like you never left! The sky looks a little bit different today. We will always love you Anna. You hit me hard with his one Anna but I know your in a better place now and pain free forever!”
Anna’s sister Jessica Shannon promised Anna that the family would care for her two daughters.
“Everyone it hurts so [bad to] say this but We lost @annamarie35 last night!” Jessica wrote on Instagram. “It’s hard to think that my sister is gone she was so young and had a bright future ahead of her. She will always be with us and we love and miss her already!! Y’all keep our family and them two sweet baby of hers in your prayers! Anna I love you and just know we got Kaitlyn and Kylee for you they will be taken care of.”
Anna was diagnosed with Stage 4 adrenal carcinoma, a rare cancer that had already spread to her liver, kidney and lung by the time it was discovered in January. She had undergone chemotherapy and radiation throughout the year and posted about it on her social media accounts.
Anna last gave an update on November 10.
@annamariecardwe39 Life update!!!#cancersucks? #roadtosuperstars ♬ Aesthetic – Tollan Kim
“I want to give y’all a little update on myself,” she said in a TikTok video. “I’ve been doing pretty good. I just went through radiation not too long ago. That went great, honestly, it went better than I honestly expected it. I thought I was going to be in a lot of pain and I wasn’t. But I am going through this thing called autoimmune therapy. It’s a pain, but it’s going great.”
Anna’s aunt, Doe Doe Shannon, also posted her thoughts after Anna’s passing.
“It is with a heavy heart that we as a family have to announce the passing of Anna Marie Cardwell,” Doe Doe wrote.
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“She passed last night with family surrounding her and she had a loving peaceful transition. Heaven gained an angel and she was greated by all of her loved ones who had passed before her,” Doe Doe wrote. “Please keep her husband, children and the rest of the family in your prayers as we go through these next several days. She loved the fans and all the love that you have shown during this difficult process. #CANCERSUCKS”
WEtv— the network that airs Mama June’s show— also posted about Anna’s death.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Anna Cardwell, a loving mother, daughter, sister and friend,” the network wrote in a statement. “Our sincerest condolences to June, Pumpkin, Alana, Jessica and their family during this difficult time. Anna will be truly missed, but never forgotten, as her light and spirit live on.”
RELATED STORY: Mama June Shannon Gives Heartbreaking Update on Daughter Anna Cardwell’s Cancer: “We Are Going Through This Transition”
(Photos: Instagram; TikTok)
46 Responses
Does anyone know anything about her husband? I hope he’s a good guy with a stable extended family to rally around the girls. Thank God they don’t have to go to Pumpkin. As amazing as she is, the poor girl is already maxed out! And of course there’s no one else on Anna’s side that would even be a possibility.
I just don’t see her husband taking care of the girls. I don’t see their family allowing it either. He’s not related to the girls.
29 is so young. How absolutely awful.
This absolutely breaks my heart. I’d followed Anna since the start of honey Boo Boo, always admired her given what she’d been through in her life. She was always trying to be positive and fun, but I think she had a strength that was underestimated. Thoughts and prayers with her family, especially her two babies and her husband (DoeDoe said husband in her post so I see they managed to marry before her passing which is beautiful). Anna clearly loved them more than anything. So desperately sad.
So very sad…
So sad! God bless the whole family!
Apparently yesterday was also her daughter’s birthday. That is a terrible thing for a little girl to carry. I can’t even imagine what those kids are going through. Ugh, just heartbreaking.
Those poor little girls. I hope they grow up to know that their mama fought hard to stay on Earth with them. I have a lot of respect for Anna and the way she chose to carry herself throughout a tough life. I hope her daughters are well taken care of and that Anna had reassurance of that before passing.
I’m devastated for her children. Anna fought valiantly for as long as she could. I know in these last 10 months she was trying desperately to make life seem “normal” for her kids. Her positivity in the face of her cancer battle was impressive. She wrote on IG several months ago “If I pass away unexpectedly tell my children how much I love them and would do anything for them. This is all I want”. This Christmas especially will be difficult for her kids. R.I.P. Anna
RIP Anna.
Prayers for the little girls.
Those poor girls, honestly, they are the ones who have really lost something here and the only ones I care about. I hope people outside of their immediate family help them learn to navigate life without their mom, while still being able to think about and celebrate the time they had together. These last ten months have likely been hell for them and it won’t get any easier with the family they have moving forward. I’m glad they no longer have to watch her suffer, but feel so heartbroken for them. They’re so very young and to be without a mama, and without family that actually cares about them, it’s just gut-wrenching.
I hope they have a good community of support around them, they’re going to need it moving forward. They need a true non-relative village to help them keep their good memories alive, away from sm, away from the public eye, in a place where they can feel loved, supported and welcome to have whatever feelings they need to have and express.
The only one’s you care about?
June lost a daughter, Pumpkin, Alana and Chunbs lost a sister, Pumpkin’s kids lost an aunt, etc.
They are all suffering…prayers to the WHOLE family!!
Her poor excuse for a mother chose her pedophile boyfriend over Anna. She even went so far as to hook up with him again when he was released from prison for the molestation. Then she stole money from Anna. And you have sympathy for this woman because she lost her daughter?! More like she lost her victim. My sympathies lie with Anna. First for having the misfortune to be born to that disgusting woman and then for dying at only 29 years old. I hope her poor daughters are kept far away from “Mama” June.
June doesn’t give a shit about any of her children, she never has. She literally sells her story to any media that will take it. No, I do not care about her whatsoever. I would care if she was a better person overall, but she’s not.
The girls only cared about her since her diagnosis, and have otherwise not given one shit about her. THEY told her story before she could, and that pissed me off from word go. When she wanted them to be quieter about it while she dealt with the hand she was given, they blabbed their big mouths on social media. That left her in a vulnerable position to HAVE to be on social media while still dealing with the fresh wound of a diagnosis. None of them have any right to take the limelight away from her. It was her pain, it was her suffering, it was her children hurting. But yes, let’s feel bad about them now that they’ve found some other reason to make themselves the center of attention.
She found valiantly and deeply, her and her children. The rest of them do not matter in the grand scheme. I’d feel differently if we were talking about different people, but we’re not. They are not suffering in the way you think they are, none of them cared about her until they were able to capitalize on her illness and her suffering. That’s such a dick move.
Sorry, she *fought* not found, it just makes me so angry that they want prayers and thoughts for themselves. Absolutely not, they are not hurting, they are not suffering, they’re literally making money off her illness and her death. I will absolutely NEVER support that.
I think people are forgetting who we’re talking about here and the shit they’ve all pulled over the last 5-10 (+ in June’s case) years.
In the grand scheme of things, June’s issues shouldn’t matter…losing a child is hard enough but now she (June) won’t be able to make amends for all the wrongs she did.
She still gave birth to that young lady…you don’t have to support anything she’s done but people do need to have sympathy for what that ENTIRE FAMILY has lost…a mom, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, and a niece.
I don’t like what she’s done either but she is still dealing with the loss of her oldest daughter who didn’t even make it to 30.
You can’t possibly be serious with this. Of course “June’s issues” matter here, they’re the whole reason people don’t like her and don’t support the shit she’s pulled just since Anna’s diagnosis.
Yes, she gave birth to Anna, and that is where her care and concern as her mother, ended. She used and abused Anna her whole life, as a child AND an adult. She allowed someone else to abuse Anna, knew it was going on, did nothing, stood up for the abuser, and then welcomed said abuser back into the house after he was released and told Anna to kick rocks. You have to be a whole lot of fucked up for that shit. That is not someone who cares about her “first born”
This is above and beyond just not liking what someone did, good lord. Anna herself was beyond angry with her “family” about the things they were doing to her and her girls over the last 10 months. She was making the best out of a terrible situation, but make no mistakes, they did not love her and she very well knew that. She made it clear months ago that the only reason she was around any of them was so her daughters *might* (should her family ever pull their heads out of their asses) have a support system. I do hope they get that, but I hope even more that those further out rally around them. Those girls will need it.
They are STILL selling Anna’s story to make money. That is not love, that is not care, that is not someone who deserves sympathy. None of them cared at all about Anna until earlier this year, they had cut ties. Anna even said that, and I’m siding with her and her children, not the people that used and abused her.
Yes they matter…under regular circumstances but these are far from your “regular circumstances”
I see what you’re saying but I guess I just lean more toward the sympathetic side than you do…to me, losing a daughter should be at the forefront of people’s minds and not her past wrongs.
Like I said, if we were talking about different people, and different circumstances, I would feel differently.
Annas little girls, my heart absolutely breaks for them. Their father and his family, my heart absolutely breaks for them. There is sympathy in my heart, it just goes towards those that really need, and actually want it, and not people trying to make money off her daughters’ pain.
I do know what it’s like to lose a child, multiple children actually. Many people here already know this. I know the heartbreak far too well. None of the living children I have are biologically mine. However, some of them do have people in their lives, or who once were, just like these people. It’s hard to convey just how much damage that can cause, or how often people just don’t listen to them (the way people didn’t and don’t listen to Anna). I am not heartless or incapable of feeling sympathy or empathy. I just know where to place it.
I do draw a line somewhere though-this happens to be one of those lines. I have way too much experience in this arena to not see things for what they are, and not side with Anna and her daughters-Anna made her feelings well known ages ago. I make no apologies for that.
And there sits grifter June with dollar signs in her eyes just waiting to exploit poor Anna’s death and cash in on Hannah’s, and whoever else she can con, sympathy.
Hey Pres! Don’t let Hannah try to gaslight you. She absolutely tried to shame you for not feeling sympathy for June, as she did me. As mothers we know that we have a responsibility to protect our children rather than exploit them. I will never give mothers, who can’t do the bare minimum of mothering, a pass.
Also, Hannah, and anyone else feeling an ounce of sympathy for June, should watch when Anna was on Dr. Phil years ago.
I saw that too Bess…but unlike you and Peanut I think some MOMENTARY forgiveness is in order especially in this circumstance.
Hell even Anna forgave her to some degree…they just got back from a FAMILY vacation in Tennessee and look at the FAMILY pictures in the article above and the smile on Anna’s face…it looks genuine to me.
MY HEART goes out to the ENTIRE FAMILY and that’s it and that’s final!!
Anna did not forgive her, or any of them, she had stated this countless times.
It is not your place to offer her any amount of forgiveness on behalf of someone else. It is no one’s place to offer them forgiveness on behalf of Anna who made it very well known that she did nothing of the sort. She simply wanted to give her children something she knew she did not, and would never, have in her final days. Those smiles are genuine, for her daughters, because the love, and hope, she had for them is never-ending, despite the shit she was saddled with.
Your heart can go out to whoever it wants to go out to. No one told you that you can’t. Others’ can go out to whoever they want it to go out to. You’re the one that jumped in and told everyone else what they should do, good grief.
Peanut, Anna may have said that numerous times BUT the physical proof shows otherwise…there’s no denying that.
And I never told anyone who they should or shouldnt feel sympathy for but to ONLY feel for the kids when she had other family is messed up.
They may be fucked up but they’re all still her family.
I really think maybe you need to pay closer attention to the physical proof. But, maybe you haven’t seen it, and if not, it would explain why you think differently. It’s pretty rough, to be honest. That’s why I’m having such a hard time figuring out where you’re coming from, because, literally everything including Anna’s own words, says the opposite of what you seem to think it says.
Did you know that June was recording Anna for her own sm accounts, while Anna was dying? Are you aware she was using Anna’s last days to make money, while Anna was crying out in pain (it can be heard in her videos, she’s literally in the throes of dying), and she put that out there on sm? Her final days were very rough. I don’t know if you’ve ever sat by someone’s side as they pass for hours, days, weeks or even months, and I won’t presume to know. But that is, for me, not the time to start filming things for social media (and definitely not to make money), especially if the person has said “please stop putting me on social media”, “please stop telling my story” as many times as Anna has. It’s really messed up, imo. That’s just not the time to be thinking about yourself, how much attention you can get, or how much money you can make off your dying family member.
I cannot, personally, in good conscious feel sorry for people who want to capitalize on the life and now even death of a family member they chose to use and abuse, I just can’t. If you want to, feel free to do so, I won’t tell you that it’s messed up the way you are. You can feel any way you choose to feel. I will continue to feel how I do, and neither one of us is likely to make any difference regardless.
Now it’s about time for my toddler to get up from a nap for sammiches and cuddles. I’ll hug that little bean a little tighter today knowing there are two little girls out there who could really use some cuddles from someone who truly loves them unconditionally. If only we could all virtually hug those two sweet little girls a bit tighter today.
I know June has fucked up…but do you have proof of these recordings and all these other allegations or are you just making it up?
Because unless I see or hear it myself I’m not about to believe something is true just because YOU SAY SO.
Peanut, read the newest article here on The Ashley, it clearly states that they made amends shortly after Anna’s diagnosis and that June was helping her through her treatments.
I’m sure a go fund me will pop up anytime. Feel free to express your sympathy there, Hannah. It’s the only kind of sympathy June really wants.
Be quiet you unfeeling, heartless hater!!
I am so sick of you people and people like you…you’re tge reason the world is so messed up…not enough love amd too much hate.
What I wanna know more than anything is…how the fuck does what June has done affect you?
It effects me because I work with victims of sexual assault. People just like Anna who had the misfortune to be born to women who choose to put men before their own children. If you had to hear the stories that I do, day after day, it might change your perspective. My sympathies lie with the victims. Never the abusers!
I would still have sympathy FOR THE FAMILY despite their faults because losing a loved one is hard enough without hate being constantly thrown at you.
So no I wouldn’t change my perspective…June is still a person no matter what awful things she has done.
I guess that just means that I actually have a HEART and NOT a stone in my chest.
@bess ~ was just about to say this (or something to this effect).
(re: the gofundme)
Very sorry for her and her family and especially for her kids. I don’t know much about her so I don’t know if she was married but I hope the kids will be okay.
I’ve thought of her often. What a tragic life this poor young woman had. From her childhood to this, she was so cheated
That is so tragic, rest in peace Anna.
I’m only glad she’s no longer suffering. This is so unfair. I hope her daughters will be ok 🙁
Very sad. Condolences to her loved ones. ❤️
This is simply awful. I hope her daughters are surrounded by nothing but love. I lost my mom when I was only 14 years old. It changes you forever. ?
I feel so badly for those little ones. I lost my mum very young too. You’re right . You become a completely different person and end up growing up too fast. I wish this on no child. RIP, Anna.
This breaks my heart. Rest easy Anna.
Oh no, I am so so sorry to hear this, my heart goes out to her children, so very sad indeed, heartbreaking.
RIP Anna.