Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, the eldest daughter of reality TV star Mama June Shannon, passed away on Saturday after a courageous battle with Stage 4 adrenal carcinoma. She was just 29 years old.
Mama June Shannon, 44, shared the heartbreaking news on Instagram, writing, “With a breaking heart, we are announcing that @annamarie35 is no longer with us. She passed away in my home last night peacefully at 11:12 PM.” Shannon continued, “She gave one hell of a fight for 10 months. She passed away with her family around her like she wanted, and we will be updating y’all with more information as we get it today. We love y’all and continued prayers and thoughts for our family during this difficult time.”
The announcement came shortly after Shannon had asked fans to pray for her family. “Y’all, we are asking for prayers for our family as we are going through this process. We really appreciate y’all for all the thoughts and prayers, and we will update y’all whenever we can. Just know that all of your thoughts and your prayers are very much appreciated during this time,” Shannon wrote on Instagram.
Anna Cardwell, born on August 28, 1994, was diagnosed with adrenal carcinoma in January. After undergoing a series of tests for stomachaches, cancer was discovered in her liver, kidney, and lung. The diagnosis was later confirmed by her youngest sister, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, 18. “This is what I mean when I say you never truly know what somebody is going through at home, no matter how famous they are,” Thompson wrote on her Instagram Story in March. “Yes, I’m very famous, but normal sh–t happens to me and my family, and y’all need to realize that ASAP.”
The relationship between Shannon and her four daughters has been a focal point in TV shows such as “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” and WE tv’s “Mama June: From Not to Hot.” WE tv and Thinkfactory Media expressed their condolences in a statement, saying, “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Anna Cardwell, a loving mother, daughter, sister, and friend. 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.”
Shannon and Alana first gained fame as breakout stars from TLC’s “Toddlers & Tiaras.” It was revealed in the spring that Shannon had been attending doctor appointments with her eldest daughter in an attempt to repair their troubled bond. “June and Anna were slowly working on building back their relationship about a year ago, but Anna’s recent Stage 4 adrenal carcinoma diagnosis has rapidly brought the pair even closer,” a family source told TMZ in April. “June immediately knew she had to be there for her daughter after the diagnosis and feels the past is simply in the past. She’s now doing whatever she can to help, including watching Anna’s kids.”
Cardwell and Shannon had a falling out in 2003, leading Cardwell to move out of her mother’s house and in with her grandmother. In 2014, Cardwell revealed that Shannon’s ex-boyfriend and known sex offender Mark McDaniel had allegedly molested her at the age of 8. Despite this, the two attempted to reconcile following the end of Shannon and McDaniel’s relationship. “Me and Mama realized we needed to put this behind us and get our relationship back on track, and that’s what we did and that’s what we have been doing,” Cardwell said in 2014 to People.
Their relationship improved enough for Cardwell to walk her mom down the aisle during her wedding to Justin Stroud in 2022. Shannon said she moved with Stroud to Georgia to be closer to Cardwell as she battled the rare cancer that forms in the outer layer of the adrenal glands.
In May, Cardwell gave well-wishers an update, stating that the treatment was “working.” She captioned a selfie with her boyfriend, Eldridge Toney, while undergoing a third round of chemo, “This [photo is from] yesterday. It was a pretty good day, but … Cracker Barrel was good going down but not up. But overall it’s going good, and chemo is working, we come to find. So things are looking good.”
However, in July, Shannon revealed that Cardwell’s cancer had turned terminal following a fourth round of chemo. “We don’t know what to expect because the cancer is very aggressive, and it grew from nothing to something huge on the left side of her body really fast,” Shannon told “Entertainment Tonight.”
Besides Alana, Cardwell is survived by her sisters, Jessica “Chubbs” Shannon, 27, and Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird, 23. She also leaves behind two daughters, Kaitlyn Elizabeth, born in 2012, and Kylee Madison, born in 2015. Cardwell split from her husband, Michael Cardwell, in 2017 after three years of marriage.
