Woman Died of Cancer at 37. Her Friends Filmed a ‘Dead Friend Bag Haul’ with Her Belongings (Exclusive)

It’s not every day you see a “dead friend bag haul” on your feed, but when five women went up with a TikTok video of exactly that, it was their way of making “the best of” their grief after losing a loved one to cancer.

On Oct. 4, Marissa, along with her friends, unexpectedly went viral after posting a clip of themselves showing off the collection of luxury handbags of their late friend Jaimie, who died of mucinous ovarian cancer at 37 in June, one year after her diagnosis.

“Jaimie was everything,” Marissa, a close family friend, tells PEOPLE. “She was compassionate, very intelligent, but most importantly, was a loyal sister and friend. She was a lover of fine wine, traveling, and, of course, luxury items. She was a successful attorney, which allowed her to spoil herself as well as the people she loved.”

“A favorite Jaimie memory for me definitely includes shopping. This last December, our friends and I spent the weekend in Boston, and we bought matching Cartier love rings as a friendship symbol, as we always joked about being soulmates.”

Marissa says Jaimie’s death has been “very difficult” to heal from, but she has been there to “ease the pain” for her family. She flew down to Florida to help clear out Jaimie’s belongings from the home she shared with her sister Breana.

“We all were very anxious prior to going through Jaimie’s things. Going to their house without Jaimie being there felt so empty, like something was missing. There were a lot of tears prior, but we knew we had to be strong for our friend and power through,” she remembers.

In “true girlhood,” the group decided to make “the best of” the situation, finding themselves “laughing and reminiscing” as they remembered glimpses of Jaimie’s life through her wardrobe, from her concert T-shirts to her estimated $40,000 curation of “expensive” bags from the likes of Prada, Fendi and Delvaux. The accessories were passed over to Jaimie’s mom and two sisters, but Marissa and her friends did get to keep jean jackets and hats in memory. “Mine particularly was Jaimie’s favorite hat, which had a daisy on it from her favorite local restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.”

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Marissa was never “nervous” about sharing Jaimie’s story with the world — even with a bit of dark humor. “Breana always promised she would share Jaimie’s story, and what better way than people seeing how wonderful and glamorous she was.”

“The people of TikTok have fallen in love with Jaimie,” she adds in response to the overwhelmingly positive comments, some of which shared their condolences of the world losing a “diva.” Marissa continues: “We always say how unfair it is Jaimie isn’t here to see how obsessed people have become with her vibrant personality, but we truly believe she would be giggling and kicking her feet with excitement.”

Marissa will continue to shine a light on Jaimie’s story in the years to come. In 2026, she and Jaimie’s family will host a softball game to raise money for the Mucinous Ovarian Cancer Coalition, for which they’ve already donated thousands of dollars in Jaimie’s memory. “Knowing we’re not alone in this and leaning on each other has been really important,” she says.