Tragedy in Brazil: mother and daughter die of cancer just 10 hours apart

A tragedy has shaken a family in Brazil, where 28-year-old Cibele Marchis and her 56-year-old mother, Maria Elisabete Nogueira, died of cancer just 10 hours apart.

Cibele died on Thursday at around 4:00 p.m. at a hospital in Mogi Guaçu. At 2:00 a.m. on Friday, Maria also died at another hospital in the city.

Known as a digital marketing specialist, Cibele was diagnosed in 2024 with a rare and aggressive type of cancer that had originated in her adrenal gland.

About a year later, Maria learned that she had pancreatic cancer. She had sought medical help for discomfort she thought was caused by gallstones, but examinations revealed the disease.

During her treatment, Cibele underwent surgery and chemotherapy sessions. In December 2025, her family was informed that she was in the final days of her life after suffering several severe infections.

Barbara Rodrigues dos Santos, a relative of the family, said that the mother and daughter had become each other’s main source of support during that period.

Maria had fasted for 24 hours and prayed for a miracle to help her daughter recover. Cibele later overcame the crisis, left the hospital and returned to her everyday life.

“She wanted to live,” Barbara said. According to her, Cibele did not allow the disease, the scars from her surgeries or the colostomy bag to stop her from living.

At the same time, Maria’s health was deteriorating rapidly. Severe pain forced her to use morphine, and on September 17 she was admitted to hospital.

Their final meeting took place when Cibele went to visit Maria during her hospital stay. About a week later, Cibele’s condition also worsened and she needed medical treatment.

“When I received the call on Thursday, everyone thought it was about my aunt, not Cibele,” recalled Rowilson Leandro da Costa, Maria’s nephew and Cibele’s cousin.

Rowilson handled the arrangements for Cibele’s funeral. Immediately after the family returned from the ceremony, he received the news that Maria had also died.

“I had to give my uncle the news again—he was mourning the loss of his daughter—that he had also lost his wife,” he said.

Cibele was the couple’s only child, so after her death and that of his wife, her father was left alone.

“He lost his family. To return home and find no one there anymore is sad and difficult,” Rowilson said.

The mother and daughter had also discussed the possibility that one of them might die before the other. Both had said they did not want the survivor to learn of the loss if the other were still alive.

“Neither of them wanted to see the other die. They had said this sometimes as a joke and sometimes seriously, and that is exactly what happened. One of them never learned that the other had died,” Rowilson said.

Cibele had also publicly documented her battle with cancer. In March, she posted a video while receiving an IV drip and wrote that if money is someone’s only problem, they should feel grateful, because there are problems that cannot be solved even with all the wealth in the world.

Eloa Righi, her business partner, said that Cibele did not allow the disease to define who she was.

“She did not want to be known as Cibele who has cancer, but as Cibele who works, has fun, lives and has cancer,” Righi said.

Maria, whom her relatives called Bia, is remembered as a loving and cheerful woman who left an impression on the people she met.

The mother and daughter were laid to rest together in a joint funeral ceremony attended by their family members and friends.