The 24-year-old social media star had been on a holiday with her friend in Spain when her heart stopped beating.
Trigger warning: This story contains details of an eating disorder that might be disturbing for some readers.
Eating disorders are something many people go through. They are mental health issues that should be taken seriously as they can be fatal if they go unaddressed. One of the eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, claimed the life of an Instagram star, who was only 24. Josi Maria from Kiel in north Germany passed away after battling the eating disorder for many years.
Josi, who spoke about her fight with the disease on her social media often, reportedly fell asleep in the arms of a friend and never woke up, as per Sun UK. She was in Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands, on a holiday with her friends when she passed away around Christmas 2020.
The German news website DE24 reported that the 24-year-old had expressed her fears of dying from the debilitating disease. She had said, "I don't want to be one in 10 who die from anorexia." The social media star had been open about her battle with the disease, to which she eventually succumbed.
"Anorexia is not a matter of weight, but of the head! That it is not always just the will to be thin, but that there is much more to it: performance, confirmation, control. And that it is an uphill battle to go against it, to gain weight, to find joy in life again," she said, as per Sun UK.
After her death, her heartbroken mother was quoted by Newsweek as saying, "My heart aches endlessly. The day before I held you, dear Josi, in my arms, we went shopping and you are looking forward to Christmas and your vacation."
She also said, "The following night you fell asleep peacefully in your girlfriend's arms on Gran Canaria. Your little heart just stopped beating." Josi had been with her friend and fellow German influencer, Vanja Resova, according to DE24 News.
Vanja told German tabloid newspaper Bild, that she became friends with Maria over the internet some years ago and the duo just decided to go to Gran Canaria in December 2020. "We spontaneously agreed to travel, we were in Miami together last year and this year," she said. "During lockdown, we booked a one-way ticket to Gran Canaria at the end of November to see the island," she added.
Little did she know that she would lose her friend there. She said that her friend only had two coffees leading up to their flight, and "hadn't eaten for two days." She said that she tried to encourage Josi to eat when they reached their destination but she wanted to lie down instead. "Josi asked if I could give her a brief hug and lie down with her for a moment. I then did that in the hope that she would eat something. I fell asleep shortly after her," she said. "When I woke up shortly after midnight, I noticed that she was no longer breathing," said Vanja. "I tried to wake her up. When it didn't work out, I went down to reception to get help," she added.
She honored her friend through a social media post after her untimely and tragic death. "Josi was an angel on earth. She has motivated many of you every day to see the positive in everything and to stay strong," said Vanja in the caption. "Your message that we should never forget: It is important that you stand by yourself and say yes, I need help. Accepting help is a sign of strength... Together for mental health," she added.
References:
https://www.newsweek.com/josi-maria-anorexic-instagram-influencer-dies-friends-arms-aged-24-1556234#
Cover image source: Josi Maria Instagram
