A mother mourns as she awaits new life, the difficult journey of influencer Lizzie Kieffer

26 August 2025

Lizzie Kieffer and family. Lizzie Kieffer/Instagram

In the quiet hours of her life, Missouri-based physical therapist and influencer Lizzie Kieffer endured a heartbreaking blow that reshaped every breath she took. Just weeks before her third child’s due date, she disclosed the devastating loss of her 12-month-old daughter, Lily. The news arrived in April, when doctors discovered a large mass on Lily’s brain after she passed away, a blow so unimaginable that Lizzie and her husband Matt described waking up to a nightmare they never could have imagined facing. Their world shattered at the weight of sorrow, yet Lizzie has turned to both faith and reflection to guide the family forward amid the heartbreak.

On Instagram, where Lizzie shares wellness and physical therapy insights with more than 359,000 followers, she described the emotional chasm between grief and hope mourning the loss of one child while expecting another. She called it a “drastic dichotomy,” saying some days grief crashes over her like it happened yesterday, and on others the wound feels impossibly distant. She spoke of the two feelings ebbing and flowing, sometimes arriving with equal intensity, weaving together in a tapestry of pain and anticipation.

This raw honesty resonates with anyone who’s carried grief into a space meant for celebration, struggling to hold both hope and heartache. Lizzie shared how heaven feels closer than she ever thought possible, residing not in distant clouds but woven into moments with family, the miracle of growing new life, and the spark of everyday beauty. She invited her followers to feel deeply, to sit with their suffering, but not to overlook the good that remains around them. “When those days that feel impossible hit,” she wrote, “just remember: at the end of you, that’s where He is. Let Him carry you.

The outpouring of support from her community has been tangible. Lizzie expressed deep gratitude for the way family, friends, and followers have rallied around her, offering love, prayers, and silent support when she felt she could not move forward. Her older daughter, Mia, she said, became a source of light through the darkness. The strength she found, she credits to faith, familial love, and the unexpected grace of a supportive community that wrapped around her with mercy.

Now, as the due date draws closer, Lizzie stands at the threshold of profound transformation. In the midst of grief, there is new life waiting to emerge. It is a truth that carries both weight and beauty, a hope born from heartache. She invites her followers to witness this journey with her the fragile magics of life and death intertwined, faith tested and illuminated, grief acknowledged and held tenderly.

In a world that too often demands polished perfection from influencers, Lizzie’s voice feels intimately human. She models a kind of courage that knows the crater of loss and still dares to whisper of hope. Her story stands as testament to resilience, to the prayer carried quietly in the heart, and to the healing power of community.