How did 'HojuSara' die? Fans mourn YouTuber Sara Holmes who died at 31
BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND: An Australian Youtuber, popular for sharing her experiences living in South Korea died after months-long battle with cancer. Sara Holmes was back in Australia after staying away from home due to Covid-19 border restrictions when she was rushed to the emergency room with back pain and later diagnosed with leukemia. The 31-year-old, known to her fans as HojuSara said the disease progressed so quickly it was difficult to believe. Holmes boasted 340,000 subscribers and was known for her videos about Korean food, culture, travel, and beauty.
Her partner Hyun announced her death on her Youtube channel on Monday, September 5, and played an audio recording of Holmes from the hospital. “If you’re listening to this, I love you all. I am watching you all from the sky. You are all very precious to me,” she said. “My friends, when things look beautiful, I was the one who did that for you. You have to remember this, OK? I’ll draw you beautiful things in the sky."
READ MORE
'She was skinny and unwell': Olivia Newton-John's niece reveals how icon struggled in her final days
Hyun also announced Holmes' death with a message on her social media accounts, which read "Since goodbyes are sad, let's say Bbyong instead. Bbyong!" According to Daily Mail, 'Bbyong' is a Korean term that means to appear or disappear, and is often used as a cute way of saying goodbye. Hyun explained Holmes had been given less than a week to live by doctors in August, but managed to hang on for 10 days before her death on September 1.
"She really was a kind person," he said through tears. "In my whole life, it was the first time I had ever met such a kind person." Holmes was diagnosed less than six months ago after returning home to Australia with Hyun for a family holiday. While staying at a friend's house in Sydney, she experienced strange back pains she had never felt before. The pain continued to spread, and once she arrived in Brisbane to see her parents she was rushed to the emergency room to undergo tests.
After a few days in the hospital and being tested for blood clots, she was told her heart was healthy and she was probably just experiencing 'muscle pain', before being advised to go home and 'rest for a few days'. She fainted as she was exiting the hospital, and was taken to a different hospital via ambulance for further testing, before eventually being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
"When I was at that hospital, other people couldn't go into the emergency room because of coronavirus; I just had to go in by myself," she revealed in May. Holmes said she was stunned by her diagnosis, as she led a healthy lifestyle and had just been hiking and riding her bike with Hyun a few days earlier. She did not smoke or drink alcohol and exercised regularly. "Whatever you do, even if you live healthily, you can just get it for no reason," she told her followers. "Actually, only 1,000 people are diagnosed with it a year in Australia. So it turns out I'm one of those people this year. I can only laugh. Honestly, I've already cried a lot, so if you don't laugh, you just cry more. Right?" Holmes started chemotherapy immediately and spent every day with Hyun and her parents after being diagnosed, up until her death on September 1.
Holmes started her YouTube channel from her home in Brisbane back in 2014.