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Mikayla Raines, an animal activist and very popular YouTube personality, has died by suicide.
This tragic development was confirmed on Tuesday by husband Ethan via his wife’s YouTube channel, which has over 2.5 million followers.
Mikayla Raines was 29 years old.
Via this emotional footage, Ethan said that for years his spouse suffered from various mental health issues and struggled to cope with an ever-growing abundance of online bullying.
“She couldn’t bear what she was feeling any longer, and she ended her life,” Ethan told followers. “And it breaks my heart that someone who is selfless and devoted her life to animals could have so much negativity pointed at her.
“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 feel what she felt. I wish you had to feel what I feel.”
Mikayla founded a nonprofit animal rescue organization called SaveAFox Rescue in 2017.
The organization, which is based in Lakeville, Minnesota, is dedicated to rescuing foxes from fur farms and providing them with “forever homes.”
It has saved more than 150 foxes, according to its website.
Ethan said he performed CPR on his spouse for 15 minutes before realizing it was too late; we do not yet know the method of Mikayla’s suicide.
But that’s far from the main point here, of course.
“In a world that’s filled with darkness she was just light,” Ethan continued of his wife.
“Looking at her from the outside you could never tell what was going on in her head. But even just socializing would send her over the edge. If you followed her personal page, she loved helping people, educating about the problems she and others faced on a daily basis.”
Added Ethan:
“She was so sensitive to everything. Which is a double edge sword because on one hand it allowed her endless empathy for those in her care, but it also means that she took everything negative to heart.”
Mikayla and Ethan share a young daughter, Freya, who was featured regularly on their social media accounts.
Late on June 24, Ethan shared a video via the aforementioned nonprofit organization’s Instagram Stories of him walking one of Raines’ rescues, a fox named Finnegan.
“One thing Mikayla would always insist on, no matter how long or terrible our day was, or how exhausted we were, we always had to take Finnegan for a walk, whether we had been working for 18 hours straight or it was five degrees below zero,” he can be heard saying off-camera.
“I really didn’t feel like doing this tonight but I feel bad for Finnegan and I didn’t want to do [Mikayla] a disservice by just … I mean, he loves his walks. I came out, I put a collar on him, and I think he’s really happy to be out here.
“I hope Mikayla can see this and I hope she’s proud of me. I know that I can never do what Mikayla does, but at least I can do this, and I think it’s really good for him.”
Ethan previously noted that Raines struggled with autism, depression and borderline personality disorder.
He cited “ridiculous claims and rumors” from strangers online and said his wife’s borderline personality disorder caused “emotional instability as well as impulsive behaviors.”
Following the recent criticism, he said that Raines “felt as if the entire world had turned against her.”
Ethan may need some assistance, but he told everyone yesterday that he plans to continue his wife’s legacy.
“She was not just a rescuer but an advocate,” Ethan said through tears. “Her legacy is SaveAFox and despite her being the most important part of that, I’m not going to let it stop here. I will do whatever I can to see SaveAFox keep moving forward to save as many lives as possible.
“As long as you guys continue to support all us here at SaveAFox, I will keep pushing forward. I’m confident we can bring more light to this world, and we’ll be doing it for Mikayla.”