Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@saveafox_rescue
Topics: Mental Health, YouTube, Animals, US News
Britt Jones
Topics: Mental Health, YouTube, Animals, US News
The husband of a popular fox rescue YouTuber has tragically announced she has died by suicide.
YouTuber Mikayla Raines, 29, was beloved by many fans after spending years building up her online presence and setting up a fox sanctuary back in 2017 for rescue animals in Minnesota.
In an emotional video, Raines' husband, Ethan, claimed that the Save A Fox Rescue founder had taken her own life due to ‘ridiculous claims and rumors’ being spread about her on social media for a ‘few years’.
On Raines’ YouTube channel, he explained that others in the animal rescue community also spread the alleged rumors, which culminated in her taking her life.
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A heartbroken Ethan told fans of her passing, stating the effect those rumors had on her and how her mental health began to suffer: “Being the sensitive human that she was, Mikayla took it all to heart.”
Raines - who was autistic - struggled with depression and borderline personality disorder which caused ‘emotional instability as well as impulsive behaviors’.
This meant that when people began to barrage her with criticism, she ‘felt as if the entire world had turned against her,’ and subsequently ‘ended her life’ a ‘couple [of] days ago’.
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“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," Ethan went on.
“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.”
The tipping point was an increase in ‘rude words, accusations and name-calling’ shared online by those ‘she considered close friends’.
“She couldn’t bear what she was feeling any longer and she ended her life,” Ethan said. “It breaks my heart that someone who is selfless and devoted her life to animals could have so much negativity pointed at her."
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As for the heartbreak the family have experienced, Ethan shared that he wishes those who have previously left negative comments had to see their daughter’s reaction to learning the news of her mother’s death.
“I wish you had to see tiny heartbroken Freya try to understand why she could never see her mommy again,” he said. “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.”
As of now, Ethan plans to continue his wife’s work, telling her followers that he will not allow her ‘light to be extinguished’.
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He ended the video by saying: “I love you, Mikayla. I will always love you so much and I miss you.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
If you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.