"The Challenge" alum Anika Rashaun has died at 34 after a battle with cancer.
The reality star's friend Tiara Ramos shared the news in in an Oct. 5 Substack post titled, "Breast Friends Forever: RIP to my Sister," referencing the title of their podcast, which they started when Rashaun was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer last summer.
"Her diagnosis was a shock. Despite her mother having breast cancer years earlier, she was never identified as high-risk or told by her doctors to prioritize mammograms. That was one of the many failures she experienced within the medical system during her time battling cancer. But that is a story for another day," Ramos wrote.
"I spent more than 20 years of my life with Anika. She was always so unapologetically
herself, so real in her stances, her convictions, her beliefs," she later added. "Her ability to get what she wanted, to talk you into things, to convince you, was one of a kind. The way she showed up for her friends, fiercely loyal and loving to the end, was on a whole different level."
Ramos remembered Rashaun for her bravery, noting she "moved to Thailand without knowing a soul, appeared on reality TV not once but twice, went skydiving on a first date with a random guy ('do it for the plot'), and started creating her own businesses from the time she was a little girl."
Rashaun made her onscreen debut on "Real World Seattle: Bad Blood" in 2016, when she was just 24 years old. One year later, she competed on "The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions."
She went on to build a career as a dating coach and matchmaker and podcast host with a lifestyle brand called ASKANIKA. According to her Instagram, Rashaun was also in school to become a licensed marriage and family therapist.
Rashaun was a newlywed as well, marrying her husband Kyle on Valentine's Day of this year.
"Anika was beautiful, inside and out. She was kind. She loved without limits," Ramos wrote. "She loved life. She lived life. She experienced things others could only dream of. She had stories, memories, and moments you would never believe.
"My world already feels dulled and blurred without her. The urge to pick up the phone and FaceTime her is a reflex I can’t shake. Knowing the pain her husband, her parents, her loved ones, and her community are feeling right now makes me sick," Ramos continued. "I am angry. I am heartbroken. I am devastated."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Challenge' alum Anika Rashaun dies at 34 after breast cancer battle
