Obituary: Social media influencer used TikTok to share her life with cancer
Rachel Kara Yaffe was often pictured with a matcha latte in hand.
The social media creator used TikTok, in part, to document her quest for the best matcha latte with nut milk in New York City. She also used it to recap trips to the farmers market, preach the importance of a positive mindset, show delicious plant-based meals, root for the Ravens and offer snapshots of her everyday life.
Most of all, she posted videos that shared her life with Stage 4 liver cancer. Yaffe, of Lutherville, succumbed to the illness on Oct. 11. She was 27.
Yaffe was born on Nov. 11, 1996, to Linda and Wayne Yaffe, according to her college biography . She had two siblings, Jordan and Jessica Yaffe. Funeral services were private.
"I am beyond lucky to have a sister who touched the hearts of so many different people, in ways that I'll never be able to fully comprehend," Jessica "Jessie" Yaffe wrote on Instagram after her sister's death. "We will miss your bright smile, weird sense of humor and radiant energy that lit up every room.
"Life is short, scary and unpredictable. But you showed me what it means to live fully, love wholeheartedly and laugh uncontrollably."
Yaffe grew up in the suburbs of Baltimore, and while in school, "sports was my happy place," Yaffe said in a TikTok video last year. She attended St. Paul's School for Girls, where she played lacrosse, field hockey and squash , and graduated in 2015. She excelled at lacrosse and continued playing during her freshman year at George Washington University.
It was lacrosse that helped her realize something might be wrong with her health. In a series of TikTok videos, Yaffe recalled the way her calves would hurt and swell when she ran. She started having shoulder pain, headaches and bloating. She went for a series of tests, but doctors struggled to diagnose her, instead attributing her symptoms to anxiety.
The pain was so bad she had to quit sports. Eventually, though, Yaffe said she finally visited a doctor who told her, "I can tell in your eyes that you feel like something is wrong with you." Yaffe appreciated the gesture. She'd started doubting her feelings, and the interaction reminded her of the importance of trusting her body — something she'd go on to discuss repeatedly on social media.
Soon after, she got an ultrasound, and the doctor told her she had a 20-centimeter tumor in her liver. A biopsy confirmed it was malignant.
Yaffe didn't tell anyone she had cancer for about two years. That changed after she attended a camp in Mexico in 2019 that made her realize it was time to share her story, Yaffe said. Later, she said she enjoyed sharing her journey online — "I get to shift the stereotype around cancer," she said.
She moved to California and then to New York, often posting snippets of her daily outfits and meals.
Yaffe believed deeply in the power of positive thinking and mental wellness. She intentionally never said she had cancer — she was healing from cancer.
"Every single day, our words and our thoughts completely shift and create our reality," she said in a May 2023 video. "They have such an impact on our physical body — the hormones that are released, how our body's functioning, our immune system, digestive systems, all of that. So from now on, there is no more saying that you are sick. You do not claim your diagnosis in any way, shape or form."
Yaffe documented her experience receiving traditional cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation. She equally focused on the holistic efforts she was making to stay healthy: eating clean, doing Pilates, meditating, expressing gratitude and taking long walks.
She was real about the challenges that accompany a cancer diagnosis. One of the biggest lessons she learned, Yaffe said, was taking the time to "really let the emotions be felt and expressed."
"I could not get through those tough days if I didn't intentionally focus on the things that bring me joy," Yaffe said. She listed a few: styling her friends' hair, dancing (even if it wasn't good), exercising, playing with her dogs.
In her last TikTok video, posted in September, Yaffe said she was glad to be back in her apartment in New York City, but the past few weeks had been rough. Earlier in the year, her lung hemorrhaged, and she needed emergency surgery. She said she was embracing the small things that made her happy and prioritizing her mental health.
Another thing that made Yaffe happy was the Baltimore Ravens. John Harbaugh, the team's head coach, recounted Yaffe's story during a Monday press conference. She was a family friend, he said, and an "inspiration" to those around her.
Harbaugh said he told the team about Yaffe's death before their Sunday game against the Washington Commanders.
"Our guys took it to heart, and it was something that was meaningful to them, and I think they carried it with them into the game — kind of the perspective that something like this provides you with," he said.
The Ravens won, 30-23.
