YOUTUBE star and founder of animal rescue organisation Save A Fox Mikayla Raines has died by suicide, aged 29.
The tragic influencer’s husband confirmed she took her own life on Monday, before emotionally blasting a targeted online bullying campaign.
Mikayla dedicated herself to rescuing wildlife, and started her Minnesota-based nonprofit Save A Fox to save and rehabilitate foxes and other exotic animals.
She began working with animals at the age of 15 when she started volunteering with a wildlife rehabilitator.
The early work inspired the charitable activist to launch Save A Fox in 2016 when she was just 20 years old.
Her husband Ethan announced the animal rights worker’s passing in a heartbreaking video on social media.
In the emotional 11-minute video, he revealed that Mikayla had been the target of a lengthy online harassment campaign.
He claimed the abuse came from not just strangers, but also people she knew – as well as others in the animal rescue community.
Ethan said: “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 also revealed that Mikayla had been suffering from severe mental health challenges, including depression, autism and borderline personality disorder.
She had also undergone years of therapy and different medications.
He said of his tragic wife: “As many of you know she was on the autism spectrum and while that made her life very difficult it allowed her to hyperfocus on one thing and that one thing was obviously animals.
“From a young age she dedicated every waking hour of her life to helping them, whether it was helping a snapping turtle cross the road or saving 500 foxes from a terrible fur farm.”
He added: “She was never in it for fame money or personal gain.
“She was truly one of the most selfless people I have ever known.”
He also said that Mikayla’s sudden passing was “a loss that is unimaginable”.
“Mikayla was truly the most amazing and inspiring individual I have ever known, and not having her here makes everything feel empty,” he said.
“I feel broken.”
Mikayla was born on March 5 1996.
Her online presence soared alongside Save A Fox, which eventually grew into the largest fox rescue operation in the US.
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