Texas A&M senior turns to TikTok to document cancer journey, garnering millions of supporters

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Texas A&M University Aggie senior has garnered millions of views on TikTok over the last month after sharing her journey with leukemia.

Breeze Hunter, 22, said it started with a headache that would not disappear. She described it as having a "rubber band" pulling her head. She said she was losing weight, was weak, and became quickly exhausted.

She went to the doctor's office in College Station, where they ran her bloodwork.

"They were like, 'Yes, you need to go to the ER,'" Hunter recalled. "This is a 911 call. Like this is very bad."

Hunter went to UTMB in League City, where she is from. She said it was confirmed that she had acute myeloid leukemia and was admitted to MD Anderson.

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"My heart just dropped," Hunter said. "I didn't know what was going to happen. Like am I going to be okay? Am I going to survive this?"

She said she was extremely sick and had an uncertain road ahead, but she started chemo with her family and friends by her side.

Hunter remained in the hospital for a month.

"I was all down in the dumps, and then I came back from an MRI, and my friends decorated my whole room, and it was all pink, and it just made me so happy," Hunter said. "I wanted to cry."

From there, she and her sister Brandi had the idea to make a TikTok video showing off her room.

"She was like, 'We have to do a 'Welcome to my crib MTV,' and I was like, 'I don't know what that is, but let's do it'," Hunter said.

Whenever she checked the video's number of views, Hunter said it had grown, and she was shocked. Her video has reached 13.5 million views since it was uploaded on November 16.

She has since posted videos sharing her story and dancing through the halls of MD Anderson.

She and her sister said the comments on the videos have been extremely supportive.

"A lot of cancer survivors commenting on it like, 'Three past my stem cell' or 'My dad had leukemia, and he beat it, and he's five years out from his stem cell,'" her sister Brandi said. "Hearing those words, even for us as a family, was just like more reassuring because it's such a scary thing."

Hunter said it has also allowed her to connect with others in the hospital.

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"People have even commented on it like, 'Hey girl! I'm on the 19th floor right below you,'" Brandi said.

Hunter said she has gotten offers from other patients to get lunch together in the hospital.

"Yeah, of course!" Hunter said she replied.

Through her TikTok videos, Hunter said she has been able to show people that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

She was released from the hospital last week, in time for Thanksgiving at home with her family. She will return in-patient at the hospital on Monday for another round of chemo.

Her younger brother was determined to be a 100% match for her, so she is scheduled for a stem cell transplant at the end of December if everything goes to plan.

"I'll definitely be doing pajama hauls because I just got a huge box of pajamas," Hunter said.

She is still taking classes online at Texas A&M and intends to graduate on time in May 2025.

For more on this story, follow Mycah Hatfield on Facebook, X and Instagram.