Raines created a successful YouTube channel dedicated to her advocacy efforts rescuing foxes from fur farms.
Animal rescue activist and YouTube star Mikayla Raines has died by suicide, according to her husband. She was 29.
Ethan Raines announced her death in an emotional video he posted to her YouTube channel on Monday.
He said that for years his wife suffered from various mental health issues and struggled to cope with online criticism.
“She couldn’t bear what she was feeling any longer, and she ended her life,” he said. “And it breaks my heart that someone who is selfless and devoted her life to animals could have so much negativity pointed at her.”
Tragic.
But listen, no one needs YouTube that bad. If you’re having issues because of it get off of it. It’s not real anyway. (YouTube, that is. People and foxes are, of course)
You think you’re doing the right thing
You think you’re doing the right thing
You think you’re doing the right thing
You think you’re doing the right thing
You think you’re doing the right thing
You think you’re doing the right thing
But they just won’t listen.
How can you blame someone for doing what should be universally understood as a positive and still having nonstop trolling? Quitting YouTube wasn’t going to stop the harassment. Quitting YouTube wasn’t going to make her unsee the harassment. Quitting YouTube wasn’t going to promote advocacy for the animals. But you think it’s her fault for putting herself in a place that is both a primary media location and collection point for a bunch of toxic people?
Disagree.
Also disagree
You can change your circumstances. None of it is her fault. But if anyone is in that position they should understand that getting out is absolutely an option.
She got harassed and bullied by people she knew IRL. They would’ve slandered her even if she wasn’t on youtube.
That advice is basically, don’t work in your chosen vocation. Running animal rehabilitation is not free, you need some sort of source of funding.
If your job is causing you enough mental anguish to go through with suicide, it’s reasonable to suggest you find another. That goes for any job.
If it’s “just a job” like working retail at Target, sure, that’s a respectable take. It’s still blaming the victim, but it’s also advocating for the victim to address the issue themselves.
But if it’s not “just a job”? If it’s your life’s work, your calling, something you love more than anything else?
That idea is very likely what drove her to the brink. You really have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.
I’ve been there and I almost didn’t survive. Choosing to live isn’t always so easy.
If you are just working for money, yeah.
People work for things that benefit everyone at a personal cost all the time, and advances are made because of people like that. It’s a good thing, which had tragic consequences in this instance.
We need to protect people who put the world before themselves. This isn’t her failing, it’s ours.
And yet animal rehabilitation exists all over the world and has for decades without it. Somehow.
🤔