Influencer with ALS Announces Her Own Death at 39, Less than 3 Years After Diagnosis: ‘Glad I Didn’t Go Suddenly’

Sara Bennett has died at age 39, nearly three years after being diagnosed with ALS.

News of her death was shared Tuesday, Jan. 13, in a post on her Instagram account, where the mother of two documented her life with the neurodegenerative disease. The caption — posted alongside a smiling photo of Bennett — was written by Bennett 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.”

Bennett began sharing online in 2020 to promote her professional organizing business, the Ananda Edit. After her ALS diagnosis in March 2023, she rebranded her account and changed her username to @TheAnandaPivot, as she explained in a post she pinned to 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 wrote 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, Bennett used her platform to share reflections on her life, her marriage to her husband of more than 11 years, Rusty, and how she continued parenting their sons, Lincoln, 9, and William, 7, as her illness progressed.

In August 2025, months before she began posting about her palliative care, Bennett wrote about what she described as a “dry run” for her “End Of Life Ceremony.” She said she “ugly cried” throughout, but called it a meaningful experience — especially hearing what loved ones might say after she was gone.

“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.”