Farewell to blogger Karina Shtern in Barnaul after three-year cancer fight

On 22 January, 23-year-old blogger Karina Shtern was buried in Barnaul. She had been fighting a rare, aggressive form of cancer for over three years, but at the beginning of this year, her condition sharply worsened. Read about what Karina was like and how the farewell to the girl went in the report from NGS22.RU.

Did not live to see her birthday by two months

The funeral hall where the ceremony took place was crowded. Dozens of people came to say goodbye to Karina, many bringing flowers. Next to the coffin sat inconsolable relatives, who stroked Karina«s head and cried. Quiet laments could be heard: ‘Why?’

Karina was buried in an open coffin — in it, she looked as if alive, like a sleeping beauty who had fallen asleep, but cancer had taken away her chance to wake up.

— In the Christian tradition, the deceased are called the departed, that is, those who have fallen asleep, because we part only for a certain time, — the priest noted before the funeral service.

The blogger died on 18 January in the hospital; she had an exacerbation of her disease — alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma — a malignant tumor of connective tissue. Her father Mikhail was the last of the relatives to communicate with the girl.

— We celebrated New Year outside the city, and at night she had difficulty breathing. In principle, due to the disease, she had shortness of breath, but it became worse. We decided to go to the hospital. Moreover, on 5 January she was supposed to have chemotherapy, — he shared.

At the hospital, Karina was immediately placed in intensive care, under an oxygen mask. At the same time, she was diagnosed with ‘pneumothorax’ — this is when air enters the pleural cavity.

— They made a drainage for her to release the air. And she lay in intensive care like that until the 13th. Then we wrote a refusal so that she could be discharged and we could go for chemo. But it was too late to get to another hospital, we agreed to leave her in therapy for a day, — says Karina«s father.

However, the next day the girl became worse again — she was transferred back to intensive care. At the same time, the doctors warned her parents that Karina might be connected to a ventilator.

— They said that this was as a last resort. In the end, on 14 January, that«s what happened. They began to put her into a medically induced sleep. She woke up, was conscious, and communicated with us. They let us into intensive care until the last moment, we visited her, — recalls Mikhail.

However, due to the tubes in her mouth, Karina could not speak — she communicated with her parents through gestures or wrote something on paper.

— She kept asking about chemo. We answered that she should be patient while we got her out of the hospital. And at the same time, we were looking for other specialists who could help us, maybe change the chemo protocol, because we understood that the situation was serious, — he noted.

On 17 January, Mikhail saw his daughter alive for the last time. Around 10 p.m., he came to her in intensive care after work to deliver some things.

— With great difficulty, they let me into intensive care. Karina was conscious. She asked me to massage her legs, because she had been lying down since 2 January and couldn«t move. Then she asked for water, but they were doing some procedure on her that made it impossible to drink. She also asked about her mother. I answered: ‘Daughter, mom is at home now, everything is fine. She will come to you tomorrow,’ — added the girl»s father.

But the woman never got to talk to her daughter. The next morning, on Sunday, the family received a call and was informed of Karina«s death. The girl missed her birthday by just a couple of months: on 14 March, she would have turned 24.

Valued life and tried to do everything

Karina fought the serious disease for three years. The shocking diagnosis was given to her in December 2022 in Barnaul. Back in the summer, her nose started to get stuffy, and after some time, her eye also started to water.

— She went to the hospital, where she was suspected of having sinusitis. They made a puncture, put in a tube, which helped for a short while. She wanted to have surgery, but they wouldn«t take her, either she had a cold or something else. She got to the surgeons only at the regional hospital. There, during the operation, the doctors discovered cancer, — told Mikhail.

At first, as the girl«s father recalls, she was in shock, but after that, Karina did not fall into despair; on the contrary, she started to hurry to live, to manage as much as possible.

— At first, naturally, she, like everyone, was in shock. But afterwards, she coped very courageously. Even, on the contrary, for her it was some new opportunity. Perhaps, thanks to this, she began to value life much more and try to do everything to the maximum. Her friends and my acquaintances wrote to me that here is such a fighter, that she has so much courage, more than might be in any man. She was very strong in that sense, — noted the girl«s father.

Of course, not every moment of her condition did Karina share with her followers on social networks; there were things that the girl preferred to keep secret.

— There were moments when she had to move in a wheelchair, because even light physical exertion was difficult, but she never allowed herself to despair. There were some temporary difficulties, but in general, she always held on. We told her that she would cope with all of this, — he emphasized.

The family did everything possible to get her back on her feet. For treatment, they took their daughter to Moscow.

— In Barnaul, they couldn«t differentiate the type of cancer, we decided to move to Moscow. There, already at the beginning of 2023, she had her first chemo, which yielded results: the tumor significantly decreased, — told Mikhail.

Soon after that, she was taken to Israel. There, local doctors confirmed that the Moscow medics were doing everything right.

‘Constantly strived for something’

Having lived not long, Karina managed a lot. In Barnaul, the girl studied at a branch of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), worked in coffee shops, and worked as a makeup artist. Later in Moscow, she started developing her own business.

— At first it was through marketplaces, then she started bringing large batches of goods from China, brand-name items. She was a buyer. She did this together with a friend, — shared a relative of the deceased.

At her age and even in such circumstances, the girl lived independently from her parents and fully supported herself.

— She earned money herself, constantly strived for something. She and her friend rented an apartment, often traveled; on her last birthday, they flew to Turkey, and in general, they always found interesting activities for themselves, — recalls Karina«s father.

Overall, 2023 was successful for Karina.

— By autumn, she was no longer on drips, but just taking pills. We even joked that she went to the hospital for vitamins, — told Mikhail.

Everything changed in the summer of 2024, when during control tests, metastases were found in the blogger«s lungs. Treatment started anew, but this time, the cancer proved stronger.

Despite the fact that the last year the girl lived in Moscow, it was decided to bury her in Barnaul, where she had friends and relatives. Karina«s cousin Daria said that the death of her relative came as a shock.

— My grandmother told me on the same day. Hearing such a thing was terrible, especially since we are practically the same age. She is only a little older than me. It just stunned me. She was always so bright, so alive. No one even thought that such an outcome could be, — she emphasized.