10 YouTubers Who Died Too Soon

Colin Wyckoff

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Better known as Kitty0706 (kitty oh seven oh six), Colin Wyckoff was a talented animator. He regularly released funny spoofs of video games on YouTube. Some of the most popular projects that caught the internet’s attention involved “Left 4 Dead” and “Team Fortress 2”. In 2012, Wyckoff was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a blood cancer. After battling the disease for three years, Wyckoff sadly passed away in 2015 at the age of 20. The community decided to make a tribute in his memory by remaking his 2012 hit, “Team Fabulous 2”. Raising money for leukemia research, the video “Team Fabulous 2 Reanimated” was released in 2020 on what would’ve been Wyckoff’s 26th birthday.

Bursting onto the YouTube scene in 2009 as zeldaxlove64 (zelda ex love 64), Christina Grimmie released several covers of songs that captivated listeners. In 2011, she finished second place in the “MyYouTube” competition, just behind Selena Gomez - whose mom and step-dad became Grimmie’s managers! Her music career quickly began to take off as she released several albums, and she finished third in 2014’s “The Voice”. In 2016, after performing at a concert in Orlando, Florida, she met with fans outside. However, 27 year old Kevin James Loibl (LOY-bull) , who had an unhealthy obsession with her, fatally shot Grimmie before taking his own life. Her family later set up the Christina Grimmie Foundation in her memory to help those affected by violence and breast cancer.

If you needed help with a task around the house or simply a way to speed up a process, the Household Hacker was the channel for you. Created by Dylan Hart, the channel showcased tips and tricks for various chores to make your life easier. Needed to wash your dog, but they’re making it difficult? Well, Household Hacker had it covered. The channel even drew the attention of “MythBusters” with a satirical video that involved charging an iPod with electrolytes and an onion. In 2020, news broke that Hart had died suddenly. Scott Kinmartin, Hart’s friend and producer on the channel, Tweeted it was from medical complications. He was 38 years old.

In 2007, Monyreak Oum (mawnna-reek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXXhZi8i_Sk ) showcased his amazing animating skills by releasing the viral video “Haloid”, which had the characters from “Metroid” and “Halo” battling it out. After releasing more content, working on video games, and gaining an enthusiastic support base, Oum joined Rooster Teeth. He worked on their “Red vs. Blue” web series before creating “RWBY” (ruby) and voicing the character Lie Ren (lye ren). In 2015, Oum suffered a severe allergic reaction when undergoing a medical procedure and fell into a coma. Distraught fans soon flocked to GoFundMe to donate to Oum’s medical expenses. Unfortunately, Oum passed away shortly afterward at the age of 33. In the aftermath, one of Oum’s brothers, Neath (rhymes with teeth), took on the mantle of voicing Lie Ren in “RWBY”.

Created to vlog about the day-to-day life of the U.S. family, the LeBlancs, the Bratayley (bruh-TAY-LEE) channel soon ingrained itself into the hearts of millions after starting in 2010. Parents Katie and Billy focused the content on their children, Hayley, Caleb, and Jules, also known as Annie. This led to many fans seeing the LeBlancs as a virtual family that they, too, were a part of. But, in 2015, tragedy struck. Caleb passed away suddenly at the age of 13. It was discovered that he had hypertrophic (hyper-TRAW-fick) cardiomyopathy, a disease where the heart becomes thickened. Since this illness often has no symptoms, Haley and Jules later had their hearts checked and are fine. The Bratayley channel remained active until 2019.

John Bain

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If you were looking for blunt opinions on video games, you probably watched the content produced by TotalBiscuit. Also known as The Cynical Brit and TotalHalibut, John Bain’s work always sparked conversations between gamers. In 2014, Bain announced that he had cancer. While that went into remission, another inoperable cancer metastasized to his liver. Bain continued to fight valiantly. But in 2018, he fell into a hepatic coma and passed away soon after. Blizzard decided to release a commemorative bundle for Bain in “Starcraft II”, with the profits going to his wife, Genna, and son, Orion. 2020’s “Doom Eternal” even added an easter egg of a tophat and a plaque stating “slay cancer.”

Since joining the platform in 2010 under the guise of TKOR (tee-core, t.k.o.r.), or The King of Random, Jonathan Grant Thompson became a standout creator. The channel quickly became a haven for science fans as the channel primarily showcased crazy experiments and explained the results. But TKOR also dabbled with life hacks and vlogging. As the channel grew larger, Thompson decided to step back from the camera to focus on production behind the scenes and spend time with his family. In 2019, Thompson went paragliding in Utah and didn’t return. After a police search using GPS, they found Thompson’s body. He had perished after crashing the paraglider. He was 38 years old. The TKOR channel has continued with the blessing of Thompson’s friends and family.

Edd Gould

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Even before YouTube was invented, Edd Gould was making waves in the animation scene. This led to him creating the U.K-based comedy series, “Eddsworld.” Teaming up with Thomas Ridgewell, Matt Hargreaves, and Tord Larsson (toooored), they soon attracted a cult following. In 2011, Gould announced he had acute lymphoblastic leukemia for the second time. Sadly, in 2012, he passed away at 23 years old from a related infection. But Gould wanted “Eddsworld” to continue. First, Ridgwell took over with “Eddsworld: Legacy”, and then Hargreaves took on the responsibility with “Eddsworld Beyond.” The profits from the show were donated to the charity named Young Lives vs Cancer.

Known for his energetic videos, especially involving Nintendo properties, Desmond Amofah (uh-MOH-fuh) developed a group of devoted fans called the JOYCONBOYZ. As time went on, Amofah seemed to be struggling as his behavior was becoming erratic. In June 2019, through his old "TR1Iceman" channel, he uploaded a video called “I’m sorry”. Then, he disappeared. Friends, family, and fans did their best to find Amofah alongside the authorities. They eventually found his belongings on the Manhattan Bridge, and his body was later found. He was 29. Several fellow YouTubers have raised money for charity in Amofah’s memory, while his fans have been creatively showing their appreciation for his work. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Corey La Barrie Ink Master’s Daniel Silva Served Time After Causing La Barrie’s Death in a Car Accident Lee Auter (otter) Fans Were Devastated When Iconic Gamer Iceycat25 Passed Away in 2020 (icy cat 25) Daniel Kyre (rhymes with tire) The Cyndago Co-Founder Lost His Life in 2015 (like indigo) Griffin Klaus Satirical Comedian Dillon The Hacker Sadly Died in 2019

If people were talking about the streamers that highlighted “Minecraft” the best, many would mention Technoblade, real name Alex. If he wasn’t making jokes about his friendly rivalry with Dream, he could be found building and destroying on a “Minecraft” server or in a tournament to the delight of his many fans. One day in 2021, TechnoBlade uploaded a video to explain his absence. He had sarcoma, a form of cancer, in his arm. TechnoBlade underwent numerous treatments and surgeries to combat this. But in June 2022, a video on his channel titled “so long nerds” was uploaded. Within, TechnoBlade’s father read from a script written by the YouTuber eight hours before his death, thanking fans for his happy life.