SaveAFox YouTuber Mikayla Raines’ loved ones are paying tribute to her after her death by suicide at age 33.
Raines was laid to rest in an emotional funeral service held on Saturday, July 12, which began with a rendition of “Somewhere over the Rainbow.” Afterwards, Raines’ relatives delivered eulogies.
Raines’ husband, Ethan Frankamp, announced her death in an emotional YouTube video in June, in which he claimed that she faced alleged online bullying. Frankamp, who shared daughter Freya with Raines, claimed that she “ended her life” a “couple [of[ days ago” amid more “rude words, accusations and name-calling” spread by people online that “she considered close friends.”
Frankamp noted that Raines suffered from autism, depression and borderline personality disorder which caused “emotional instability as well as impulsive behaviors.” After the recent criticism, he said that Raines “felt as if the entire world had turned against her.”
Late animal rescue YouTuber Mikayla Raines’ mom, Sandi Raines, spoke exclusively to Us Weekly about her late daughter’s final days, how online bullying affected her and her family’s plans to keep her fox rescue running. Sandi explained that Mikayla loved animals since she was young and always had a special connection with them. Sandi said […]
“She couldn’t bear what she was feeling any longer and she ended her life,” Frankamp said at the time. “It breaks my heart that someone who is selfless and devoted her life to animals could have so much negativity pointed at her.”
He continued, “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 see me find her and I wish you had to watch me perform CPR on her for 15 minutes until the first responders arrived. And I wish you had to watch helplessly as paramedics attempted to revive her lifeless body. And I wish you had to hear the screams and the cries of her family.”
In the wake of Raines’ death, Frankamp assured fans that he planned to continue her mission with the nonprofit organization. (Raines and Frankamp founded SaveAFox in 2017 and have since amassed more than two million followers on YouTube.)
“I will not let Mikayla’s light be extinguished,” he said. “I’m going to continue to push to rescue the remaining fur farm foxes and, after that, save as many animals as possible.”
Popular fox rescue YouTuber Mikayla Raines has died by suicide after experiencing online bullying, her husband said. In an emotional video shared via the SaveAFox Rescue’s YouTube channel on Monday, June 23, Raines’ husband, Ethan, claimed the Minnesota-based fox rescue founder had been dealing with “ridiculous claims and rumors” being spread about her online for […]
Mikayla’s mom, Sandi Raines, claimed to Us Weekly that she began navigating online bullying four years ago. The alleged internet harassment “broke” Mikalya, who Sandi claimed didn’t care about the online fame and just wanted to rescue animals.
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Sandi also shed insight into her daughter’s final days, noting that Mikalya had recently rescued 500 foxes and rehomed 400 of them.
“She was just beating herself up that she couldn’t find homes for the last hundred; it wasn’t quite fast enough,” Sandi told Us. “She was still finding them, but not as fast as she found the other ones. She was beating herself up about that.”
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