Published Jan 29, 2021

Inspiring College Student, 20, Builds Community on TikTok Sharing Her Cancer Journey During COVID-19

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Kate Hervey's Cancer Journey

Kate Hervey was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that tends to form near large joints in young adults.
Hervey, 20, feels lucky to have gone through her cancer journey during the pandemic because she was able to take her classes online, just like her classmates.
She found a community through TikTok and credits her followers with helping her get through the tough times.

Kate Hervey, then a 19-year-old, celebrated New Year’s Eve in Windsor, Canada with some friends to ring in 2020. “Little did I know that three months later, my world would be turned upside down,” she says. “It was the complete opposite end of what I was used to.” It began with a feeling of tenderness in one of her legs. As months went go, it turned into a few lumps in the same area. After a few visits to the doctor's office to get an MRI and a biopsy, she was hit with the news: She had synovial sarcoma. This is a rare type of cancer that tends to form near large joints in young adults.

Cancer Diagnosis During COVID-19

Being diagnosed with cancer as a young person during the COVID-19 pandemic has its ups and downs. Hervey, a nursing student at Michigan State, was fortunate because her university had just transitioned from in-person to virtual learning.

“Being immunocompromised during a pandemic is kind of scary,” she says. “It was easier for me to go through it because as much as it sucked going through it as a college kid, I didn’t feel like I was missing out on much because everyone else’s lives were on hold also. It was a blessing in disguise that it happened in a pandemic.”

Hervey worked on classwork while getting chemo in the hospital. “I’m a nursing student so I would be taking my pharmacology notes, while I was getting the infusion,” she says.

Finding Connections on TikTok

While Hervey, who is in a sorority, is used to being around her friends, she had to scale back on her social activities because she was now considered to be a high-risk patient. That’s when she turned to TikTok as an outlet, sharing her cancer journey and building a community of her own. She has nearly 40,000 followers on TikTok now.

“One thing that was nice about TikTok that I loved and why I started posting more and more videos is how many people I was able to meet through TikTok and social media that are going through the same things,” she says. Social media allows her to stay in touch with other young people going through their own cancer journeys. “I still text with this one girl who is 22. If I’m having a hard time, I will text her because she will understand. As much as my family and friends are supportive, it’s hard to vent to someone who doesn’t know what it’s really like,” she says.

Hervey, now 20, is cancer-free. She says she could not have done it without the love and support of her TikTok followers. “I feel like I’ve made an impact on other people and they have made an impact on me through TikTok, which is crazy to say. I can help people go through what I’ve been going through as well.” She has graciously agreed to allow us to use her content in order to help our community.

Hervey says her cancer journey is going to prepare her to become a better nurse. “I made the right choice with my major. I see the patient aspect of things. It’s going to help me be more empathetic with my patients,” she says.

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Noorulain Khawaja is a freelance multimedia journalist. Read More

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