Influencer with ALS Announces Her Own Death at 39, Less than 3 Years After Diagnosis: 'Glad I Didn’t Go Suddenly'
- - Influencer with ALS Announces Her Own Death at 39, Less than 3 Years After Diagnosis: 'Glad I Didn’t Go Suddenly'
Zoey LyttleJanuary 14, 2026 at 11:07 PM
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The Ananda Pivot/Instagram
Sara Bennett with her kids. -
Content creator Sara Bennett has died at 39, nearly three years after she was diagnosed with ALS in March 2023
On her Instagram page @TheAnandaPivot, Bennett garnered over 100,000 followers by sharing her progression and journey with the neurodegenerative disease
The mom of two — whose sons are ages 7 and 9 — wrote the caption on the post announcing her death: "I loved this life, and am grateful for the time," said the later influencer and advocate
Sara Bennett has died at age 39, nearly three years after she was diagnosed with ALS.
Her death was announced on Tuesday, Jan. 13, with a post to her Instagram page, where the mom of two documented her journey living with the neurodegenerative disease. The caption — which accompanied a smiling photo of Bennett — was written by the late content creator herself.
"I am not in pain, or tired. I can laugh, talk, and I can move. Reflecting in my last few months of my life, I am glad I didn’t go suddenly even WITH the suffering. I finished my list," she wrote. "Even if you don’t believe in any thing, I am feeding the earth, and my tree. I loved this life, and am grateful for the time."
The Ananda Pivot/Instagram
Sara Bennett with her husband and two sons.
Bennett originally started sharing online in 2020 to promote her professional organization business, the Ananda Edit. However, she changed her account's username to @TheAnandaPivot following her ALS diagnosis in March 2023, as she explained in a post pinned on her page.
"My world turned upside down. So many things to do from a personal standpoint. So many things to address from a disease standpoint. So many things to get in order," she explained in May 2024. "When I thought about my business, I felt like deleting the account and stepping away. But… that would just be one more thing this disease was taking from me."
In recent months, she's posted reflections on her life, her death, her marriage to her husband of over 11 years, Rusty, and how she continued to parent their sons Lincoln, 9, and William, 7, as her illness progressed.
In August 2025, a few months before Bennett started sharing content about her palliative care, she posted about how she did a "dry run" of what she called her "End Of Life Ceremony." Despite the fact that she "ugly cried" the whole time, Bennett says it was a "beautiful" experience hearing what her loved ones would say after she died.
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"The idea of a traditional funeral just doesn’t feel 'like me,'" she wrote. "I know it is sad, I am not trying to make it easier. I just want to reframe it, and I won’t let fear or discomfort keep me from the chance to do this."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
