One social media star's death prompted an entire country to re-evaluate its transportation
safety laws. But she's not the only YouTuber, TikToker, or Instagrammer who died far too young.
Tanya Pardazi was a TikTok influencer who shared videos under the moniker philosatea. Her
unique brand of philosophical musings, feminist takedowns of the patriarchy, and criticisms of the
influencer industry itself garnered over 100,000 followers and millions of likes. Tragically, her
life and career were cut short when she was killed in a skydiving accident in 2022. She was just 21.
Pardazi had been taking skydiving lessons shortly before the accident,
but she suffered devastating injuries when the stunt went
terribly wrong. The skydiving company then released a statement, claiming,
However, according to a report by the Daily Mail, Pardazi was wearing a parachute that was supposed
to open automatically, contrary to reports that she opened the chute too late. Accordingly,
it is believed that the malfunctioning parachute was responsible for her devastating fall. Her
friends remembered her as someone who was always keen to take on a challenge to remedy what she
deemed the tediousness of everyday life. As a childhood pal told CTV News Toronto,
Claire Wineland devoted her too-brief life to vlogging about living with cystic fibrosis,
a genetic disease affecting the lungs that leads to severe respiratory problems. On
her YouTube channel, which had almost half a million subscribers, she posted
videos that were simultaneously lighthearted and educational.
Wineland also gave TEDx Talks. In one, filmed when she was just 14, she explained that she
wasn't expected to live past 18, having already undergone 25 surgeries. She also stated that she
didn't want pity from people; rather, she hoped to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest.
In her final YouTube video, posted in August 2018, entitled "Thank you,"
Wineland said that she was excited for the future as she anticipated her double lung
transplant. She was initially denied access to a transplant, but thanks to a fundraiser
she was put on the list again and was due for surgery. At the end of the video, she said,
"There's really nothing else in the way, so I guess let's do this."
Alas, Wineland suffered a blood clot after the transplant and died a week later at the age of 21.
Fitness influencer Cheyann Shaw devoted her popular Instagram account to her penchant for
competitive bodybuilding. In 2016, when she was just 23, she was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian
cancer and underwent surgery to remove a number of organs, including her spleen and uterus. One
of the most painful aspects of Shaw's diagnosis was the fact that she lost all the muscle she'd
gained through the years of working out. As she revealed to People Magazine in 2016,
Subsequently, Shaw began chronicling the changes to her body on Instagram in an effort to alleviate
stigma surrounding the disease. In 2021, she passed away at the age of 27. In a message
posted on her Instagram, her family thanked her followers for their support and said that they
hoped the late influencer would inspire others with her infectious positivity. As they put it,
Technoblade was beloved in the gaming community, as he amassed an impressive 15
million subscribers on YouTube. He was known for his entertaining videos about Minecraft,
having first began posting content on YouTube in 2013 when he was still a teenager. After winning
a number of Minecraft tournaments in 2019, he rocketed to fame and became a social media star.
After experiencing pains in his arm, Technoblade was diagnosed with cancer,
as he revealed in a video uploaded in 2021 entitled "where I've been." He initially
believed the pain was caused by his repetitive gaming. But after going to the hospital,
he learned that he had a cancerous tumor and began undergoing chemotherapy. Sadly,
he died less than a year after his diagnosis, at the age of 23. At the request of the late gamer,
his father posthumously shared a video in 2022, dubbed "so long nerds."
"Hello everyone, Technoblade here. If you're watching this, I am dead."
The gamer also revealed that his real name was Alex and declared,
Technoblade's tearful father recalled his final moments, as he reassured his son that
he'd entertained millions of people and could now rest. Eight hours after writing the goodbye
message, Technoblade passed away. The Minecraft Twitter account paid tribute to him, writing,
British YouTuber Emily Hartridge gained popularity for her "10 Reasons..." series,
in which she offered a comic take on modern life,
with videos covering topics such as ageism, bisexuality, and masturbation. Her final video,
entitled "10 Reasons To Get A Younger Boyfriend," saw the vlogger gushing about her beau Jake,
who was eight years her junior. Poignantly and perhaps somewhat prophetically, she declared:
"I don't really like salt and pepper hair. I'm very young at heart."
Tragically, Hartridge's life was cut short when she was struck by a truck at the Queen's Circus
roundabout in London, while on her e-scooter in 2019. She was only 35. Her death is believed to
be the first fatal crash involving an e-scooter in the U.K., and it led the Royal Society for
the Prevention of Accidents to ask ministers to look into seeing if they needed tougher laws.
Following an inquest, it was determined that a deflated tire led to the accident.
As reported by the BBC, a coroner determined that Hartridge was riding her unstable scooter
too fast, its improperly inflated tire causing her collision with the truck,
killing her instantly. Her boyfriend told the BBC,
Nicole Thea was beloved for her beauty and lifestyle posts on Instagram and YouTube. On
July 8, 2020, she shared a snap of herself having a milk bath, surrounded by flower
petals as she cradled her prominent baby bump. Just days later, she would be dead.
On July 12, it was announced on Instagram that Thea, who was eight months pregnant,
and her unborn son Reign had died. She was only 24. Initially, there were rumors that she'd died
in childbirth. However, it was later confirmed that she suffered a sudden heart attack. Her
uncle Charles Murray revealed to the Daily Mail that she'd been experiencing chest and back pain,
and also that she'd had difficulty breathing in the weeks leading up to her death.
Thea's boyfriend Global Boga later blamed medical negligence for her death. In a video posted on his
late partner's YouTube channel, he explained that the couple went to the hospital multiple
times and that Thea had numerous medical check-ups and tests, but no health issues were determined.
"My wife could have lived, and my son could have lived as well. Reign
could have lived. They both could have lived."
Beauty influencer Talia Castellano spent her brief life sharing her love of makeup
and fashion with her 1.4 million YouTube followers. All the while,
she was living with childhood cancer, having been diagnosed when she was only eight years
old. She had both leukemia and neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system found in babies.
In a video posted when she was 12, Castellano discussed the aggressive nature of the cancers,
admitting that there was little in the way of available treatment. She was also
frank about her hesitancy with regards to a bone marrow transplant, suggesting that she
would rather enjoy the little time she had left rather than go through the procedure.
"I hope you guys understand where I'm coming from not really wanting to do the transplant."
In 2012, Castellano was made an honorary CoverGirl thanks to Ellen DeGeneres. But the following year,
she passed away at the age of 13 in a children's hospital surrounded by her family.
DeGeneres and CoverGirl both paid tribute to Castellano, with the latter declaring,
Much loved for his famous laugh, Michael Brooks used his social media accounts to channel his
left-wing activism. He was a co-host of The Majority Report with Sam Seder,
where he built a reputation for his comedic
impressions of political figures, and he also hosted his own show.
Fans of Brooks were shocked when he died suddenly in 2020 at the age of
36. An episode of The Majority Report that aired on the day of his passing was cut
short when a visibly stunned Sam Seder was informed of his colleague's death.
Brooks' passing was initially attributed to a "sudden medical condition," which
was later confirmed by his sister to be a blood clot in his throat.
Brooks was highly popular in leftist circles, counting the current President elect of Brazil
and union activist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva among his admirers. Upon his passing, da Silva tweeted,
After being diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer at the age of 35,
British influencer Deborah James devoted her life to raising awareness
of the disease. Fashioning an online career under the moniker Bowel Babe,
James amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok. She chronicled life with
cancer via a unique combination of educational posts and humorous dances. In an effort to
encourage other people to check their stools for blood, she even dressed up as the poop emoji.
As James wrote in The Sun regarding finding blood in her stool,
After six years of living with cancer, James announced in May 2022 that she was receiving
end of life care. She generated headlines when she was made a Dame in a day, as Prince William
arrived at the ailing blogger's home to bestow the esteemed honor. In her final weeks alive,
James ensured that she fit in as many of the glitzy events she loved as possible,
appearing at the Royal Ascot and launching her own charity clothing campaign. She died
that June at the age of 40, outliving her initial prognosis of less than a
week by over a month. The following day, her BowelBabe fundraiser reached 7 million pounds.
John Bain, better known as TotalBiscuit, found fame as a gamer and reviewer on YouTube,
where he accumulated 2 million subscribers. In 2014, he was diagnosed with colon cancer,
when he was only 29. In a YouTube video entitled "My Little Problem," he warned
his fans not to ignore signs of cancer as he did. He explained that he'd been having
bowel problems and stomach pain for a year and a half, but he dismissed them. He also
highlighted the stigma surrounding people openly discussing their bathroom habits.
"This is why this condition can sneak up on you, because people are not talking
about it and they're not willing to actually go and get it checked."
Two years later, Bain revealed on Twitter that the cancer had spread to his liver, though the
tumor was successfully diminished with treatment. Unfortunately, the cancer soon returned. In 2017,
he appeared on the H3 Podcast, where he discussed living with stage 4 cancer, as he mused:
"That's the only option there is, just to keep going. What
other option is there? You just give up? Nah. There's nothing else. Nothing beyond this."
In 2018, Bain announced on Reddit that his illness was terminal. He died soon after,
four years after his initial diagnosis. He was 33. He was survived by his wife Genna,
who paid tribute to him with a poem on Twitter.
Influencer Niece Waidhofer first found fame via the "Roast Me" trend on Reddit,
in which users invite others to lampoon them with witticisms. But after receiving
hateful comments that grew increasingly personal in nature, she deleted her account.
Waidhofer was a successful Instagram model with over 4 million followers who took to the
social media platform to call out Redditors who used her "Roast Me" as an excuse to be
misogynistic. Her direct messages were flooded with men sending her photos of their genitals,
with one user claiming to be her ex. As she wrote in a since-deleted post,
In the leadup to Waidhofer's death, fans grew concerned when she deleted all but
three photos on her Instagram. Tragically, she died by suicide in 2022 at the age of 31,
having reportedly struggled with depression for years. As her family told TMZ,
They also hoped to open up a charity in her honor
to aid people struggling with mental health issues.
Landon Clifford found fame chronicling his life as a teen father on YouTube,
starting the channel Cam&Fam with his wife Camryn Turner, where they gained 1.6 million subscribers.
They married when they were teenagers in 2019 and had two children together. In Clifford’s
final video before his death, entitled "Teen Dad Tries Labor Pain Simulation," he seemed in
good spirits as he was hooked to a device that simulated the pain of giving birth.
In 2020, Clifford suffered a traumatic brain injury and was declared brain dead after
falling into a coma, which Turner announced on Instagram. He died six days later at the
age of 19. His widow revealed that his organs were donated. As she wrote in a moving tribute,
In a YouTube video, Turner revealed that Clifford died by suicide. She discussed her late husband's
ongoing struggles with depression, anxiety, and addiction, explaining that he was a reserved
person who didn't share his personal turmoil with others. After their second child was born,
he began to feel better, but then the depression slowly came back.
"He just had so much more life to live. He had so much ahead of him."
Desmond Daniel Amofah, better known as Etika, initially started out on YouTube as a rapper,
and then he started vlogging about video games. He
delighted fans with his enthusiastic videos and overzealous reactions to Super Smash Bros.
Eventually, though, Etika's content took a darker turn. He began showing signs
of mental illness in his videos, but fans treated his ill health as a joke,
believing that he was faking his instability for views. In one instance, he was arrested
during an Instagram live stream after exhibiting apparently delusional behavior. An article by
Polygon argued that there was inherent racism to the mocking of his health concerns, noting,
In 2019, Etika uploaded a video onto YouTube in which he discussed having
suicidal ideation. Shortly after posting the video,
which was removed for violating YouTube's terms of service, he was reported missing. Less than
a week later, he was found dead in New York. He was only 29. His death was ruled a suicide.
Beauty influencer Ethan Peters made a name for himself on TikTok, YouTube,
and Instagram, amassing millions of followers under the name Ethan Is
Supreme. He found fame when he was just 12, selling his meme Instagram
account for $25,000, before embarking on a career as a star makeup artist.
Peters was known for his gothic-tinged makeup looks that were inspired by emo
bands. He encouraged other teens to embrace their
authentic selves. As he put it in an interview with Medium in 2019,
As with many influencers, Peters also generated controversy,
which included problematic posts about Doja Cat and late rapper XXXTentacion. Subsequently,
he was frequently the target of online harassment,
which his family partly blamed for his substance abuse issues. His father Gerald told Fox News,
Ethan Peters died at the age of 17 in 2020. His death was ruled a drug overdose.