Mum given less than a year to live forced to tell two young children she’s dying

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare - not being able to see your children grow up.

Despite her unbearable pain though, influencer Jenny Appleford, from California, bravely decided to document her journey with terminal lung cancer.

The 36-year-old even vlogged about her heartbreaking chat with her young children, as she told them she had less than a year to live.

YouTube/Jenny Apple

The lengthy video, which was uploaded to YouTube, shows the Californian mum travelling back after the devastating appointment.

Touchingly, she then watches her daughter Winnie’s ballet class before having a heartbreaking conversation with her kids.

“We talked about how the cancer is getting bigger and stronger, finding more places to go and hide to where we can’t get it and they both started breaking down instantly,” husband Kyle said, revealing they even made a script to help them during the vlog.

In the 30-minute video, called We Told The Kids I’m Dying, he later confessed that he felt ‘sick to his stomach’ as they broke the news to their son Ellis, 7, and daughter, Winnie, 3.

“We told them that the doctor told us about six to nine months,” continued her husband, adding: “Ellis was very much clinging onto this idea that there could be a miracle.”

After telling her children the devasting diagnosis, the brave mum then consoled them with a trip to Target, ice cream and cuddles at bedtime.

However, Jenny has admitted she has to be ‘realistic’ as she approaches what could be her final months.

@jenny_appleford/Instagram

Back in 2021, she was experiencing shortness of breath and back pain which was ultimately diagnosed later as inoperable lung cancer, despite the fact the mum has never smoked.

Jenny then documented how the disease has developed on YouTube, with it spreading to her brain and some of her lymph nodes – even with chemotherapy.

Since then, she’s amassed a following of over 107,000 followers and raised $122,000 on the family's GoFundMe page – which will contribute towards her medical bills.

“We’ve known from the minute we got this diagnosis that lung cancer is an absolute beast of cancer,” explained Kyle in a separate video – discussing the tragic prognosis.

Although Jenny did say that ‘miracles happen’, the mum said she has to be ‘realistic’ and wants to be at home with her family near the end.

She also wishes to stop the treatment, if it means she is not here ‘mentally’ anymore.

“Every day is a gift, you guys,” Jenny told her followers at the end of the heartbreaking clip, adding: “Cherish your time with your loved ones.”

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week

Topics: Real Life, Health, Parenting

Katherine Sidnell

Katherine is an entertainment journalist with a love of all things nerdy. Starting out writing Doctor Who fan fiction as a kid, she has gone on to interview the likes of Matt Damon, James May and Dua Lipa to name a few. Published in The Sun, The Daily Mail and Evening Standard - she now joins Ladbible as resident nerd in chief.

@ksidnell