Sara Bennett dies at 39 after nearly three years with ALS

People reports that content creator Sara Bennett, 39, has died after living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for nearly three years; her death was announced on her Instagram page on Tuesday, Jan. 13.

Her husband Rusty recalled that symptoms began in March 2022 when Sara felt a "weird numbness" in her right, dominant hand while clipping students' tests. A doctor visit a week later led to a year of tests and an official diagnosis in March 2023, with doctors giving a life expectancy of two to five years. Sara worked as a teacher until that diagnosis and later documented her illness and advocacy on Instagram under the username @TheAnandaPivot. She and Rusty married in 2014 and had two sons, Lincoln, 9, and William, 7.

The family asked that gifts be directed to the boys' 529 college accounts and shared UGift codes L4R-R63 for Lincoln and T46-E6P for William. At the start of 2025 they did not expect Sara to live past autumn; Rusty took leave in the spring to be her full-time caretaker, they prepared the children in the summer, and Sara lived through Thanksgiving and celebrated Dec. 31 before spending her last months in the primary bedroom.

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Culture, Sara Bennett, Rusty Bennett, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Lincoln, William