The devoted wildlife rescuer shared a social media post just days before her tragic death.
Mikayla Raines, 29, was a fox rescue activist and YouTube star with a loyal fan base on the platform.
She founded the U.S. animal rescue organization, Save A Fox, and was described as a ‘superhero’ who dedicated her life to saving creatures.
But earlier this week, her husband, Ethan, announced on her Instagram that she had tragically taken her own life.
It seems that behind the scenes, the influencer had been suffering years of online harassment, but not just from strangers hiding behind anonymous profiles.
Trolls who attacked the star included other animal sanctuaries, and even so-called ‘friends.’
In a devastating clip, grief-stricken Ethan claimed that his wife had been at the centre of ‘ridiculous claims and rumors’ for some time.
“Being the sensitive human that she was, Mikayla took it all to heart,” he noted.
Ethan added that the false accusations ‘hurt’ the YouTuber a lot.
Raines was just a teenager when she first started her activism work, and now has more than 2.4 million subscribers.
Ethan noted that Raines had autism, depression, borderline personality disorder, and other mental health challenges.
In addition, she felt as if ‘the entire world had turned against her.’
But fans of the activist would never have been able to tell, from her positive and uplifting animal content.
Ethan performed CPR on his wife for 15 minutes after finding her, and admits that half of him is now missing.
But just days prior to Ethan’s tragic announcement, the mom could be seen playing with the family’s latest animal addition.
“Do you ever marry an animal lover and you think it’s just going to be cats and dogs, and then they kind of go off the rails a little bit, and you’re not so sure what to expect?” Ethan asked in the video shared, which the couple uploaded on Sunday, June 22.
“And they’re calling you saying, ‘Don’t be mad when you get home, and you do get home, and I don’t know what I’m looking at right now.’”
The video then cuts to Raines playing with her new lemur on the floor of their house.
The striped-tail animal can be seen running and jumping around the kitchen.
The caption of the clip read: “When you’re married to an animal lover, and things get out of hand,” alongside a laughing emoji.
Upon announcing her death, Ethan noted that his wife had ‘pushed through’ a lot of abuse online prior to taking her life.
He issued advice to others struggling, noting that if anyone felt ‘lost and hopeless,’ they should ‘reach out to someone.’
Raines also leaves behind her a daughter, Freya.