Adrian Toh, a former Singapore Airlines leading steward, died on Friday (Oct 23) after a three-year battle with lung cancer.
His death was announced by his family on his Instagram account. He was 44.
“You were such an inspiration Adrian. I would always be cheering you from afar and admired your strength on this journey. Thank you for giving us all the strength to take on life’s challenges,” the caption on the Instagram post read.
Adrian, a fitness enthusiast, was open about his diagnosis with stage-four cancer. He spoke to AsiaOne on two occasions about his battle with the disease.
In October 2023, he told AsiaOne that he discovered the cancer in his left lung during a full-body health check-up in June that year.
He had just left Singapore Airlines after a 13-year stint as a leading steward and was suffering from a persistent cough that affected his sleep.
“Of all things, why do I have lung cancer?” the non-smoker said of his condition.
That July, he underwent surgery and six rounds of chemotherapy but was still left with a 1cm stage-four non-small cell lung cancer tumour in his left lung.
To document his cancer recovery journey, Adrian started a TikTok account focused on raising awareness about his condition as he felt there was “nothing to be ashamed about”.
Second relapse
Earlier this year, he spoke to AsiaOne again, revealing that he had relapsed for a second time.
He shared that following his initial diagnosis. he had been put on targeted therapy — a cancer treatment that utilises drugs designed to block the specific genes, proteins or tissue environments that allow cancer cells to grow — in order to keep the disease under control.
Adrian also had to take a pill a day and undergo check-ups every three months as part of the treatment.
Nonetheless, his cancer mutated into a more aggressive small cell lung cancer that targeted his right adrenal gland in October 2025.
As a result, he had to undergo surgery to remove an 11.5cm growth in his right adrenal gland, leaving him warded in the Intensive Care Unit and a high dependency ward for a week.
A week after that, he underwent chemotherapy for a second time, in which he said was “a bit more intense”.
In six months, he had completed a total of 18 chemotherapy sessions.
Adrian had just started his new job as a financial consultant four months prior to this, and was forced take a six-month break to focus on treatment.
“After each cycle of treatment, I just had to rest and prepare my body and mind again for the next cycle. This went on for six cycles. It was a matter of perseverance,” he said.
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