Betty Pettit, who passed away on July 19 at the age of 86, became famous all over the world when she shared her experience living with Alzheimer’s disease.

In a post on Facebook, her youngest son, Josh Pettit, who was in charge of managing Betty’s social media profiles on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, made the announcement. The statement was made eleven years after the Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis was made for the citizen of Mooresville, North Carolina.

“This has been a journey and we are so grateful for all the love and support our family has received,” he said in his letter. “We will continue to share about this horrible disease and try to help as many people as we can who are dealing with this.”

Josh also posted a picture of himself and his mother holding hands on Instagram on July 28. The shot was taken just before his mother passed away.

“In January of this year, I am shown on the left clutching my mother’s hand. The 17th of July, on the right. Just two days before she passed away. She was put to bed by us. While I was there, I sat down with her,” he wrote. “While she was holding my hand, she continued to speak and talk. I was unable to comprehend anything that she said, but whenever I responded, she expressed her satisfaction that I was paying attention to whatever it was that she was conveying to me.

“At the end of life, it is not for those who are easily discouraged to keep a loved one in your home.” It is a great deal. But there are times like that when you live. I am filled with joy throughout the dying days, and I do not have any regrets over the care that we gave. 😢💜 as he added.

A funeral ceremony for Betty will be conducted on Sunday, August 4, at the Cavin Cook Funeral Home in Mooresville, as stated in the obituary that was published for her.

During the Thanksgiving weekend of 2021, when Betty was on vacation with her family in the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina region, she became the first internet sensation to go viral on social media. During the trip, her son Josh unknowingly recorded a video of mom conversing with another individual in the mirror, not understanding that the person she was talking to was really her own image.

During the video, Betty is heard saying, “I am unable to recall her name.” Josh reacts by saying, “That’s Betty.” Her response is, “My name is Betty.” After that, Josh says, “Well, she’s Betty as well.”

According to Betty, “Okay. Okay, let’s go. We have resolved the issue. At this point, I’m going to obtain a restful night’s sleep. I am grateful to you.”

Today, Josh made the decision to upload the video on TikTok on the same day. The video had already gained widespread attention by the time the next morning rolled around. “Betty Pettit made a new friend at the beach,” he captioned the image, which has now received more than 26 million views.

Since that time, the family has continued to upload recordings of Betty on the internet, and not too much longer after that, she began to amass a crowd of followers. In a short amount of time, her family was required to provide her with a post office box for the purpose of receiving presents.

We had a short stretch of time last night, during which we unwrapped a lot of presents, and it felt just like Christmas. It felt good to her. Oh my goodness, this is so lovely… Who else sent that?’ “It’s one of your fans,” or “one of your friends on the internet,” is what we always say when we hear someone like that. ‘Wow!’ she exclaims as much. As Josh explained to the Charlotte Observer, “She takes pleasure in the attention.”

The identical interview that took place in December 2022 was conducted by Bob, Betty’s husband, who remarked on his wife’s climb to prominence.

According to what he shared with the publication, “I couldn’t figure out why people would be interested in it.” “However, I suppose that we eventually came to the realization that it was wonderful for awareness.”

“We came to the realization that we had the chance to genuinely shed light on this sickness that a lot of individuals are affected by but that a lot of other people are unaware of. You are unable to comprehend anything if you have not had first-hand experience. And others raised queries that were very reasonable, such as, “Does she really not realize that she is looking at herself in the mirror?” Could this be a hoax?’” In addition, Josh said.

As stated in the obituary, Betty was one of the Top 50 Fundraisers worldwide for the Alzheimer’s Association, and she was responsible for earning more than $70,000 to support the cause of Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition to being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, she was also diagnosed with lung cancer and kidney cancer in the year 2014.