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We have tragic news to report from the world of social media today, as beloved YouTuber Mikayla Raines has passed away. She was just 29 years old.
As the founder of the nonprofit SaveAFox rescue organization, Mikayla amassed followings of more than 2 million on YouTube and 500,000 on Instagram.
Sadly, it seems that that popularity came with a tremendous amount of criticism, and Mikayla’s husband, Ethan, revealed this week that she recently took her own life.
Mikalya Raines’ husband lashes out at online bullies
In an emotional video, Ethan shared the news of Mikayla’s passing and vented his fury at the people whom he says are responsible for her death.
“They spread false rumors, and being the sensitive person she was, it deeply affected her. She tried for years to push through the pain, but this time it was too much,” he said.
Ethan added that in recent months, the “rude words, accusations and name-calling came from some of those she considered close friends”.
“I think all of this stems from jealousy and envy,” he noted, adding:
“She couldn’t bear what she was feeling any longer and she ended her life. It breaks my heart that someone who is selfless and devoted her life to animals could have so much negativity pointed at her.”
Grieving husband shares harrowing account of Mikayla’s death
Later in the video, Ethan went into detail about the horror of discovering his wife’s body.
“And to those of you that pushed her to this, every one of you that had been responsible for making her feel this way, I wish you had to see me find her and I wish you had to watch me perform CPR on her for 15 minutes until the first responders arrived,” Ethan continued.
“And I wish you had to watch helplessly as paramedics attempted to revive her lifeless body. And I wish you had to hear the screams and the cries of her family,” he added.
“I wish you had to see tiny heartbroken Freya try to understand why she could never see her mommy again,” he added, referring to his and Raines’ daughter.
Ethan noted that Mikayla was on the autism spectrum and suffered from depression, autism and borderline personality disorder.
“I wish you understood what you were doing before you did it before it had to go this far, and I wish you understood that words do have real and terrible consequences,” Ethan said.
Ethan added that he intends to carry on Mikayla’s work in the areas of animal rescue and environmental activism.
“I will not let Mikayla’s light be extinguished,” he said. “I’m going to continue to push to rescue the remaining fur farm foxes and, after that, save as many animals as possible.”
“I love you, Mikayla. I will always love you so much and I miss you,” he concluded.
Our thoughts go out to Mikayla Raines’ loved ones during this enormously difficult time.
Mikayla Raines: YouTube Star Dies of Suicide After ‘Years’ of Online … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.