The passing has occurred of Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, who was the eldest daughter of the reality television queen Mama June Shannon. 29 was her age.
In a message that she published on Instagram on Sunday, Shannon, who is 44 years old, broke the news that Cardwell had passed away.
“With the breaking heart, we are announcing that @annamarie35 is no longer with us,” she started the caption of her post, which was accompanied by a portrait of her family. “She passed away in my home last night peacefully at 11:12 PM.”
“She gave one hell of a fight for 10 months she passed away with her family around her like she won’t and we will will be updating y’all with more information as we get it today,” according to Shannon.
“We love y’all and continued prayers and thoughts for our family doing this difficult time,” she said afterwards.
Shannon posted a request on Instagram on Friday, asking her fans to keep her family in their thoughts and prayers. Cardwell’s passing comes after Shannon made the request.
Cardwell was diagnosed with stage 4 adrenal cancer in January and was having treatment at the time of the diagnosis. Cardwell had previously starred with her mother and sister Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson on the television shows Toddlers & Tiaras and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.
“Y’all we r 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 her Facebook page, followed by the hashtag “#CancerSucks.”
Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird, who is 23 years old and Shannon’s daughter, mirrored her mother’s plea on her Instagram Story on the same day. She also added her own message, which said, “Say a prayer for our family.”
Following a battery of tests that were performed when Cardwell complained of having stomach discomfort, the medical professionals who were treating her found that she had cancer in her lung, liver, and kidney. During the month of March, she went through the first round of chemotherapy.
In a post that she made on Instagram on May 10, Cardwell provided an update on her treatment, revealing that she was now in the midst of her third administration of chemotherapy.
When she posted a picture of herself and her boyfriend Eldridge Toney, she accompanied it with the caption, “This [was] yesterday.” “It was pretty good day but did get a little and Cracker Barrel was good going down but not up 😂 but over all it’s going good and chemo is working we come to find so things are looking good.”
In the beginning of the same month, Shannon disclosed to PEOPLE that she was experiencing feelings of being “emotionally drained” as a result of her daughter’s condition.
Because of Anna, I don’t go live on TikTok as much as I would want to. The explanation that she provided at the time was that “I’m already emotionally drained because of that.” “I’m not trying to be derogatory about the feeling… It would be psychologically and emotionally exhausting for me to have to cope with five thousand individuals asking me about Anna on that particular day.
Cardwell was diagnosed with cancer, and she continued by saying, “You don’t know whether to scream or not.” It’s hard to decide whether to laugh or cry. When it comes to hollering, you are at a loss. There is no one you can ascribe guilt to.
Shannon also disclosed to PEOPLE that she and her husband, Justin Stroud, were in the midst of moving from Alabama to Georgia, which would enable her to be at Cardwell’s side and assist her through her treatment. This information was disclosed to PEOPLE.
At the end of May, Cardwell, who was a mother to two girls, Kaitlyn Elizabeth, who was born in 2012, and Kylee Madison, who was born in 2015, marked a momentous occasion with her family as Kaitlyn celebrated her graduation from elementary school.
“I am one proud mama right now,” she said in a post that she made on Facebook at the time, including photographs and a video clip from the event that was being celebrated.
“I also can’t believe I am going to have a middle schooler and a second grader,” she said further. Give me a moment while I go weep my eyes out. I’ll be right back. The accomplishments that my daughters have made are something that I am really proud of.
Cardwell and her own mother’s relationship went through a number of highs and lows during the course of their time together.
During the year 2003, Cardwell relocated from Shannon’s residence to the residence of her grandma. She went back to her hometown in 2012, just in time for the launch of the family’s spinoff, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. However, the show was canceled by TLC in 2014 due to rumors that Shannon was romantically engaged with her ex-boyfriend and convicted sex offender Mark McDaniel.
Almost immediately after that, Cardwell came forward to claim that McDaniel had sexually molested her when she was eight years old. Around that period, McDaniel was in a relationship with her mother. According to a source who spoke with People in 2014, Cardwell had left Shannon’s house after she was allegedly subjected to sexual assault.
Cardwell discussed the abuse she said she had endured as a kid at the hands of McDaniel in an interview that was conducted at the time by PEOPLE. She also discussed how she and her mother had worked on restoring their relationship in the years that had passed since the abuse.
“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,” according to her.
Nevertheless, she went on to say that she would be “hurt” if it became out that her mother was seeing McDaniel once again.
It would be painful for me. In spite of the fact that I would not feel deceived, I would feel wounded. “You are aware that the past ought to be in the past, and it ought to remain in the past; it ought not to enter the present again,” she said.
In spite of the fact that they remained completely separated in the years that followed — Cardwell filed a lawsuit against her mother in 2015 for allegedly making unpaid appearances on Here Comes Honey Boo Boo — they got back together earlier this year when Shannon married Stroud in February 2023.
All four of her daughters, Cardwell, Efird, Alana, and Jessica “Chubbs” Shannon, were there to celebrate the event with mom. They were all at her side.
“This was the first time the family had all been together since 2014,” Shannon said in an interview with People magazine. “So it was really special to get married in a place where my family and I have had so many memories!”
Her two kids, Kaitlyn Elizabeth and Kylee Madison, are the only ones who will remember Cardwell.
