Body positivity TikToker Megha Thakur dies 'suddenly and unexpectedly'

Megha Thakur, a TikToker who preached body confidence and acceptance to her nearly 1 million followers, has died. She was 21.

"It is with heavy hearts we announce the light of our life, our kind, caring, and beautiful daughter, Megha Thakur, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away on November 24, 2022 in the early morning hours," Thakur's family wrote in a post to her Instagram account.

Thakur's family, who made the Instagram post on Nov. 28, wrote that a funeral service would be held Nov. 29.

"Megha was a confident and independent young woman. She will be dearly missed. She loved her fans and would have wanted you to know of her passing," her family wrote in the Instagram post.

Thakur's family did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On her TikTok, Thakur shared glamorous videos of herself modeling at photoshoots, traveling on "influencer trips" and dressing up in various outfits. She was also candid about insecurities she struggled with, her mental health and anxiety. In one video, she said her anxiety became so intense that she had a heart attack.

"I have really bad anxiety, which turned into stress, which turned into a heart attack," she said in a video posted in July. "So I've been dealing with that."

Thakur's cause of death was not immediately made public.

In the wake of her death, thousands of comments were shared to her Instagram and TikTok accounts remembering the positive impact Thakur had on her followers.

"I’m so truly saddened by the loss of a creative genius," wrote makeup artist and influencer Stephanie Valentine, who goes by Glamzilla on Instagram.

Journalist Daisy Maldonado called Thakur a "force" in the influencer community, adding that "many women looked up to her, I told her all the time. we lost an angel too soon."

Some wrote that Thakur had helped them learn to love themselves and her content had given them confidence.

"i will always be grateful for finding your account, you were the only person that really helped me boost my confidence, you will always be important to me, love you forever, rest in peace my queen," wrote Instagram user @chaotiqu.3.

Other commenters called her death "a loss for the world" and said they "still can’t believe you’re gone."

"megha i seriously can’t believe this .. i woke up this morning and this was the first thing that landed," user @01110111ftw wrote. "man wherever you are just know that you were more than enough and thank you for being you and for shining your light upon the darkness."