‘Save A Fox’ founder Mikayla Raines dies by suicide at 31 following online harassment

Mikayla Raines, the founder of Save A Fox Rescue and a YouTuber, has passed away. The news was announced in a heartbreaking video shared by her husband, Ethan Raines, on her rescue’s official YouTube channel. The twelve-minute-long video begins with an emotional Ethan announcing his wife’s passing and warning viewers about the sensitivity of the content.

“This is a video I never planned on making, and its completely devastating to having to sit down and write this out,” Ethan began.

“But a couple of days ago, Mikayla Raines passed away. This is the most hurtful and difficult time of my life, so please bear with me as I try to read this through the tears, Ethan added, reading from a printed sheet.

More details on Mikayla Raines passing

According to her rescue organisation’s official website, Mikayla Raines’ love for animals started from a young age. She found her first fox, which she later named Farrah Foxett, at fifteen when she volunteered for a wildlife rehabber. Since then, the 31-year-old animal activist had been actively fighting for the rights of animals, especially foxes.

Her husband, Ethan, describes Mikayla as:

“The most bright and shining example of what you could accomplish if you really set your mind to something. She was never held back by ideas that everyone considered unrealistic.”

In the video, Ethan talked about Mikayla’s struggles with autism, depression, and borderline personality disorder. He explained that while all of these made her life difficult, they also allowed Mikayla to focus on the one thing she loved dearly—animals.

Ethan revealed that Mikayla had been in and out of several kinds of therapy, which never seemed to help. He added that though she might have seemed fine from the outside, his wife found it hard to do simple tasks or even socialize with people, as it could “send her over the edge.”

“She made posts and discussed autism awareness so that it could be spread and help everyone understand just how difficult life can be for those on the spectrum and she was so sensitive to everything, which is a double-edged sword on one hand it allowed her endless empathy for those in her care but it also means that she took everything negative to heart.”

He went further to state that Mikayla Raines was a victim of bullying from both people she knew personally and those online. He described how words, whether spoken or written, can affect a person.

“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,” he revealed.

“They consistently spread ridiculous claims and rumours, and being the sensitive human that she was, Mikayla took it all to heart. And it hurt her. It hurt her a lot, but she pushed through. For years, she pushed through the pain of people trying to bring her down and the mental challenges she faced.”

“But this time, it went too far. She couldn’t bear what she was feeling any longer, and she ended her life. It breaks my heart that someone who was selfless and devoted her life to animals could have so much negativity pointed at her,” Ethan spoke as he fought back tears.

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Mikayla Raines took her life at 31. She is survived by her mother, Sandi Raines, her husband, Ethan, and her toddler daughter, Freya, alongside all the rescued animals in her shelter.

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