Seventeen-year old Shaun Wilson-Miller, who made headlines earlier this month with his video “MY FINAL GOODBYE,” died Saturday due to heart failure.
Wilson-Miller suffered from chronic heart rejection and was told by doctors he wouldn’t have long to live following the failure of his second heart transplant.
The Australian teen, who seemed resigned to his fate, turned to YouTube to record a farewell video for his family and friends, only to find the whole world tuning in.
“I won’t be here for as long as I thought… but I want to say, is that has been an awesome ride, and I have no regrets. … Live life to the fullest, because you never know what’s going to happen,” Wilson-Miller said.
In the weeks that followed, Wilson-Miller’s video spread, and he appeared on Australian TV shows and met his favorite athlete.
“He passed peacefully with me holding his hand; that is something the family will hold with us,” the boy’s father, Cameron Miller, told the Herald Sun.
“Shaun received the highest level of care at our hospital, including in the emergency department where he was cared for in a bed in a single room whilst awaiting transfer to the ward,” Dr Peter McDougall, Royal Children’s Hospital executive director, said.
Following Wilson-Miller’s death, YouTubers are treating Wilson-Miller’s video like a virtual funeral, sharing their condolences and the ways that Wilson-Miller’s video touched them.
“I just want to start by saying, rest in peace Shaun, you made me see how much I take life for granted, you are an inspiration mate, and your family and friends would be proud of you,” brissyguy80 wrote on YouTube.
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