Nicole Thea, a social media star with more than 230,000 Instagram followers, died Saturday and her family has revealed the cause of death pending the official autopsy report.
The 24-year-old was eight months pregnant and her family believes she — and her unborn son — died due to a “massive heart attack,” the Daily Mail reports.
“She had it in her house and she was telling her partner that she had pains in her chest and her back,” her uncle Charles Murray told the outlet. “She was a dancer and we don’t think she had any underlying health problems. It is terrible — but we won’t know for sure until we have the post-mortem.”
Thea, a UK-based YouTube personality, dancer and accessories designer, was best known for posting videos documenting her pregnancy.
Thea’s mother first shared news of the death Sunday in an Instagram post to Thea’s more than 182,000 followers: “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 [her partner] Boga named Reign sadly passed away on Saturday morning,” she wrote.
“As a family we ask that you give us privacy because our hearts are truly broken and we are struggling to cope with what has happened,” she continued. “Thank you her mum RIP My beautiful baby girl Nicnac and my grandson Reign, I will miss you for the rest of my life until we meet again in eternal heaven.”
Thea’s mom also pointed out that her daughter — also known for her jewelry and eyelash lines — had pre-scheduled several videos that will still be posted to her channel in the days to come. She said Thea’s partner, street dancer Global Boga, “has made the decision to allow them to be aired.”
In April, Thea announced her pregnancy in an Instagram video showing off her baby bump while dancing with Boga.
“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 caption read. “Honestly, @global_boga has been the best support EVER and GOD made no mistakes making him the father … We are already obsessed with you our little miracle baby. Thank you for choosing us to be your parents and best friends.”
Thea’s latest YouTube video — behind-the-scenes coverage of a pregnancy photo shoot — was posted Sunday to her 114,000-plus subscribers. The clip now has more than 1,000,000 views as of Wednesday morning.