Beloved Today Show host Savannah Guthrie is paying tribute to Brooke Eby, who appeared on the show as a guest, following her passing at 36. This comes after she was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2022.
News of Eby’s passing was shared by the ALS Network on Thursday, Oct. 1, and after it came out, Guthrie remembered her as a “young woman who left a real mark on the world.”
“Our friend Brooke Eby passed away on October 1 after waging a remarkable battle against ALS,” Guthrie said on Today. “It was remarkable for the way she bore that devastating diagnosis that she received at the age of 33.”
“She did it with courage, openness and humor,” she continued. “She was determined to share every aspect of her journey. The videos she posted on social media were often hilarious and garnered her a devoted following of millions.”
The two first met in 2023 when Eby appeared on The Today Show to discuss her diagnosis and her story.
“Even as her body began to fail her, she kept up her fight, kept posting — yes, with that trademark humor and spirit,” Guthrie stated. “She also created ALStogether, a community for others living with the disease.”
ALS Network Remembers Brooke Eby As ‘An Extraordinary Advocate’
When sharing the news that Eby passed, she was remembered by the ALS Network as “an extraordinary advocate, storyteller, community builder, and friend whose honesty, humor, and determination changed how countless people understood ALS.”
Eby was diagnosed with ALS when she was 33 and made the decision to share her journey with the disease publicly, building a large community on social media. It gave people insight into living with ALS, but she did so by also making people laugh. And she built a community for people to come together
“Brooke founded ALStogether, an online peer Slack community built around a simple but powerful idea: people navigating ALS should have a place to find others who understand what they are experiencing,” the organization continued. “ALStogether grew into a vibrant community where people living with ALS and caregivers could connect in real time, exchange information, ask questions, share frustrations and victories, and simply be themselves.”
In June 2026, Eby was honored with the Dean and Kathleen Rasmussen Advocate of the Year Award by the the ALS Network.
“Brooke leaves behind something that cannot be measured simply in followers, views or membership numbers. She created connection, she built community, she changed hearts and minds. And she gave people a place to belong,” The ALS Network wrote. “Brooke once promised she wasn’t getting quiet. She hasn’t. Her voice lives on in the people she inspired, the community she created, and the movement she helped shape. We will miss her deeply. And we will carry her legacy forward.”
Brooke Eby Penned A Personal Essay To PEOPLE In 2025
In 2025, Eby shared a personal essay with PEOPLE, where she talked about her experience with ALS.
She explained that when she was first diagnosed, she “took some time to be sad,” with there being “nothing light-hearted about my reaction” for the first two months.
But, after having to call friends and tell them about her diagnosis, she decided that instead of sadness, it was better to make people laugh. That’s when she turned to social media.
” I knew practically nothing about social media, but I decided to give it a try and see if it could be an outlet for some much-needed levity,” she wrote. “‘I Googled “How to make a TikTok,’ and a guy in a YouTube video taught me how to get started. But looking back I actually had a few pretty successful videos for someone with zero idea what she was doing. I think my first viral post was me texting my friends from high school to tell them about my diagnosis. They know me well enough to know how I wanted them to take the news: with the funniest responses possible. People on TikTok loved those screenshots from our group chat.”
Comments
Savannah Guthrie Pays Heartfelt Tribute to Brooke Eby Following Her Tragic Passing at 37 From ALS