Eldiara Doucette, popularly known as Bionic Barbie on the internet, is a 22-year-old social media influencer from the United States, who recently held a funeral for her right arm which she had to get amputated due to a rare form of cancer.
Sharing about her battle with cancer, Doucette said she suffered from synovial sarcoma which is a rare form of cancer that affects about 1,000 people each year. In October 2024, she found out that she only had a few days left with her right arm before she underwent an amputation from above the elbow. This removed the aggressive tumour that was at the centre of her disease.
However, before undergoing the surgery, she expressed gratitude to her arm by writing messages on it. She bid farewell to her arm by holding a farewell on January 15 wherein she invited a small group of family members, her boyfriend and friends.
Speaking about the funeral in an Instagram post, she said, "What started as a joke - holding a service for my amputated arm - ended up being a beautifully cathartic experience. I laughed at the absurdity of it for a minute, and then just stared at the shriveled up skin for a while, trying to remember the past 22 years I was able to spend with this thing. I’ve held many hands, felt the skin of loved ones, picked up spiders to take outside, saved worms off of the sidewalk, wiped away tears, pet dogs and picked many dandelions. I’ve played piano, guitar, ukulele, an act that I’ll never again get to experience. I always joke that my arm tried to kill me, but after looking at it on the table, seeing the scars it collected over the years, I realized it too was just a victim of this disease, and it made the ultimate sacrifice on my behalf. Cancer has taken a lot from me and still continues to, and it’s uniquely difficult to say goodbye to a limb like this, but this experience has helped me process the finality of this situation. I’m so grateful for the mortuary for being so accommodating of such an unconventional request - they treated her with the same respect that they would with a full loved one. They painted her nails and livened up her skin, gave her a pillow to rest on and a blanket to make her comfortable. Nobody is built with the understanding of how to navigate a situation this uniquely devastating, but I think I chose the right path. I’m infinitely grateful for my loved ones who were willing to go to my own funeral with me. I’m glad I was able to say both thank you and goodbye.
"Anyways, I’m sorry this happened to us, but you served me well. Thanks for the good memories, the pain, and all the joy."
Check the post here:
Several users took to the comment section to share their thoughts. One of them wrote, "These pictures are so beautiful, I'd love to draw illustrations of you and your hand if you'd allow it."
Another comment reads, "this is amazing you are so fricken cool."