YouTuber Mikayla Raines, whose Save A Fox channel and organization focused on animal rescue, has died by suicide after years of online bullying reached a boiling point. She was 29.
The activist’s husband, Ethan, announced her death Monday in an emotional video, just two days after Raines’ last video.
“A couple days ago, Mikayla Raines passed away,” Ethan said. “She felt as if the entire world had turned against her. She had always battled with borderline personality disorder, causing emotional instability as well as impulsive behaviors. But this time it went too far. She couldn’t bear what she was feeling any longer. And she ended her life.”
Early in the nearly 12-minute video, Ethan remembered Raines as an “amazing superhero of animals,” as well as “a wonderful wife, and a caring mother.
“But through all of this, for her entire life, she struggled. She struggled with autism, with depression, with borderline personality disorder, and more,” he explained, adding that Raines was “so sensitive, to everything.”
This “double-edged sword … allowed her endless empathy for those in her care. But it also means that she took everything negative to heart.
“For a few years, a group of people had been throwing dirt on Mikayla’s name and the rescue. Most of these are people she knew and some of them are other animal sanctuaries. They consistently spread ridiculous claims and rumors and being the sensitive human that she was, Mikayla took it all to heart. And it hurt her,” Ethan said. “For years, she pushed through the pain of people trying to bring her down, and the mental challenges she faced. And she still rescued hundreds of animals and changed the lives of so many. But recently, more of the rude words, accusations and name-calling came from some of those she considered close friends.”
Ethan then directed his statement to “every one of you that had been responsible for making her feel this way”: “I wish you had to see me find her. … I wish you had to hear the screams and the cries of her family. … I wish you understood what you were doing before you did it. Before it had to go this far.”
Ethan said that, ultimately, he intends to continue Raines’ mission of saving “as many animals as possible,” with the help of Save-A-Fox’s supporters, “and we’ll be doing it for Mikayla.”
