Nicole Thea, a YouTube star who chronicled her pregnancy, died at age 24 along with her unborn baby. She was eight months pregnant.
The beautiful, young rising star had amassed more than 80,000 followers on her YouTube channel with millions of views. She posted videos mainly about beauty and dancing. Lately, she had been sharing the joys of her going through pregnancy.
Thea's family confirmed the news of her passing on Sunday in an Instagram post, stating that Thea's unborn son had also died.
"To all Nicole's friends and supporters it is with great sadness that I have to inform you that Nicole and her son she and Boga named Reign sadly passed away on Saturday morning," the statement read.
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The family asked for privacy, saying "our hearts are truly broken and we are struggling to cope with what has happened."
The cause of Thea's death is not yet known. The former dancer was around eight months pregnant.
Thea had scheduled a few videos to be released on her YouTube channel before she died. Her boyfriend Jeffery Frimpong, who is better known as the dancer Global Boga, will still release the videos as scheduled.
Thea announced her pregnancy back in April with an Instagram video proudly showing off her baby bump while dancing beside Boga.
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"We can't hide this any longer, secrets out... GOD gave us the biggest blessing yet. I'm finally creating a beautiful little human inside of me," the accompanying caption read. "Can't believe this bubba will be half of me and half of the loml. Honestly, @global_boga has been the best support EVER and GOD made no mistakes making him the father."
She added: "We are already obsessed with you our little miracle baby. Thank you for choosing us to be your parents and best friends."
While the cause of death is still yet unknown, there has been a rising number of maternal deaths amongst Black women.
In recent years, as high rates of maternal mortality in the U.S. have alarmed researchers, one statistic has been... plaguing the Black community. According to the CDC, black mothers in the U.S. die at three to four times the rate of white mothers, one of the widest of all racial disparities in women's health. Put another way, a black woman is 22 percent more likely to die from heart disease than a white woman, 71 percent more likely to perish from cervical cancer, but 243 percent more likely to die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related causes. In a national study of five medical complications that are common causes of maternal death and injury, black women were two to three times more likely to die than white women who had the same condition.
Condolences continue to pour in on social media as people have found out about her death. One follower put it best, “You didn’t even need to know Nicole personally to see how excited her and Boga were to be parents."
Our prayers, thoughts and positive energy go out to the family.
