Australian YouTube star 'HojuSara' Holmes dies aged 31 after a six-month battle with leukaemia as her heartbroken fiancé shares her final message to fans
By J. PETERSON FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIAPUBLISHED: 01:29 GMT, 6 September 2022 | UPDATED: 06:55 GMT, 6 September 2022
Sara Holmes, a popular Australian YouTuber known for vlogging about her life in South Korea, has died at the age of 31 following a six-month battle with leukaemia.
Holmes, better known as 'HojuSara', boasted 340,000 subscribers and was known for her videos about Korean food, culture, travel and beauty.
She was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in May, shortly after arriving back home to Brisbane with her Korean fiancé, Hyun.
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Sara Holmes (pictured), a popular Australian YouTuber known for vlogging about her life in South Korea, has died at the age of 31 following a six-month battle with leukaemia
The couple hadn't been able to visit Australia for two years due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.
Hyun announced Holmes' death on September 5 with a message on her social media accounts, which read: 'Since goodbyes are sad, let's say Bbyong instead. Bbyong!'
'Bbyong' is a Korean slang term which means to appear or disappear, and is often used as a cute way of saying goodbye.
A tearful Hyun also addressed Holmes' fans in a 40-minute YouTube video on her channel, which included a voice message she'd recorded from the hospital shortly before her death.
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She was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in May, shortly after arriving back home to Brisbane with her Korean fiancé, Hyun (pictured together)
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Holmes, better known as 'HojuSara', boasted 340,000 subscribers and was known for her videos about Korean food, culture, travel and beauty
'If you're listening to this, I love you all. If you're listening to this, I'm watching you all from the sky,' she said in the message.
'I wanted to make it to the end. I will be taking care of all of you. Every time you see something beautiful, that will be me. This is not the end.
'I'm still fighting. I am fighting. I wanted to spend more precious times with all of you. I wanted to send you all a message, but this came faster than I expected.
'I have made so many good friends. I guess I have used up all of my luck. I have no regrets. I wanted to spend more time with you, but I will be watching over you.'
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 passing away 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.'
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A tearful Hyun also addressed Holmes' fans in a 40-minute YouTube video on her channel, which included a voice message she'd recorded from the hospital shortly before her death
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 noticed 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 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'.
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'If you're listening to this, I love you all. If you're listening to this, I'm watching you all from the sky,' Holmes said in her final message to fans
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 leukaemia.
'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.
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Sara was diagnosed less than six months ago after returning home to Australia with Hyun for a family holiday
'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 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 started her YouTube channel from her home in Brisbane back in 2014.
After it grew in popularity, she began taking trips to South Korea before meeting Hyun and moving there permanently.
Tributes from friends, fans and other influencers have poured in since her death was announced on Monday, including from Safiya Nygaard, Liah Yoo, Amanda Rach Lee, Kim Dao, Michelle Park and many more.
The Australian embassy in South Korea also said in a statement: 'Thank you for giving so much, Sara. From all of us at the embassy.'
Hyun said he hopes to learn English so he can live in Australia and spend more time with Holmes' parents.
What is acute myloid leukemia?
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a type of blood cancer that starts in young white blood cells in the bone marrow.
Each year in Australia around 900 people are diagnosed with AML. Overall AML is rare disease, accounting for 0.8% of all cancers diagnosed, at a rate of 3.7 per 100,000 of population.
Approximately 19,500 new cases occur every year in the US.
It is most often diagnosed in older people.
Symptoms can include:
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Frequent infections
- Bruising or bleeding easily, including nosebleeds or heavy periods
- Weight loss
- Bone and joint pain
- Breathlessness
- Swollen abdomen
- Pale skin
- Smoking
- Being overweight
- Radiation exposure
- Previous chemotherapy
- Certain blood disorders, such as myelodysplastic syndrome
- Some immune conditions, like rheumatoid arthritis
Source: Cancer Research UK / Leukaemia Org Australia
