Marcel Johnson, a TikTok creator who documented his life with stomach cancer, has died at 32.
His wife, Taylor Johnson, said in a TikTok video announcing his death that he died Nov. 2 at 4:45 p.m. as they were alone in the room together, honoring his desire to spend his final moments at home.
"So happy and proud to say I respected his wishes until the very end," she said.
Taylor said she stayed with her husband for about eight hours after his death and was struggling to imagine what would come next for their family. The couple shared five children, ages 2 to 9, whose names they kept private.
"I don't know where we go from here," she said. "He was like the leader
of everyone."
She also thanked the followers who had supported them, explaining that she believed her husband would have wanted her to share the news with the people who followed his illness.
"He took you guys on the whole entire journey," she said. "He showed you the worst days and the best days."
Johnson was diagnosed with cancer in August 2025 and actively shared his journey with the illness since.
He shared that he had stage 4 gastric adenocarcinoma, which is a stomach cancer that develops in the stomach's gland cells according to the Mayo Clinic. Stomach cancer may not cause symptoms early on, but signs include abdominal pain, nausea, unexplained weight loss and feeling full after eating very little.
Before his diagnosis, Johnson, whose TikTok account has about 907,000 followers, shared videos of his everyday life. After his diagnosis, his posts focused mainly on his experience with cancer. He and Taylor also ran Lil Daddy's Cheesecakes in Mount Clemens, Michigan. According to the bakery's website, their son inspired the business's name and appears in its logo.
A GoFundMe, initially created to help during Johnson's cancer treatment, is now raising money for Taylor and their five sons. The campaign had collected more than $370,000 as of Nov. 4.
In her video, Taylor described her husband as the strongest person she knew, but said he had become exhausted: "He was ready to go though."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: TikTok creator Marcel Johnson dies at 32 after stomach cancer diagnosis
