Mama June Shannon and Her Kids Say They’re ‘Dysfunctional’ but ‘Are All We Have Left’ After Anna’s Death (Exclusive)

 Mama June Shannon and her daughters Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird and Jessica “Chubbs” Shannon are leaning on each other now more than ever.

When Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell died from stage 4 cancer in December 2023, the family made a point to put their personal issues aside and band together for her final days. Though Anna is no longer with them, Mama June and her girls have stuck together through thick and thin.

“We are dysfunctional,” Lauryn exclusively tells PEOPLE during a sit down with her family members. “But we were saying earlier too though, it is always kind of just been us. So regardless of all the hardships and the arguing and all that stuff, we are all we have left.”

Despite the ups and downs they’ve faced throughout the years, Mama June adds that it’s “always” just been her and the girls.

“Their fathers haven’t been involved and stuff like that,” she explains. “So if today, [my husband] Justin [Stroud] left me, Josh left Pumpkin, Dralin left her, Cheyenne left her, we would all have to move in the same house with the babies and we would just do life.”

“This is Justin’s favorite saying, ‘I’ve never seen a family like this.’ We can argue sitting right here and in an hour later we’re calling each other and talking like nothing ever happened,” she adds.

On the June 28 episode of Mama June: Family Crisis, Anna’s condition took a dramatic turn and Mama June called her hospice nurse to check her vitals. After taking her pulse and other tests, the health care professional confirmed that Anna was “transitioning” and would soon die following her cancer journey.

After her tragic passing, Anna’s family members grew emotional and recalled the moment she took her final breath.

In a video message, Mama June revealed that Anna died “peacefully” and had “won her battle because Anna’s no longer suffering.”

“We were all just sitting there talking,” Alana said in a video of her own. “And she took her last breath. I really wish she could have seen me graduate but that’ll be okay because she’s watching over me.”

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Mama June: Family Crisis airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on WEtv.