German Instagram influencer Josi Maria, who shared her anorexia struggles with the world, has died after going two days without food. Maria was preparing for a vacation to Gran Canaria when she succumbed to heart failure. Josi’s mother posted a message under her last picture, confirming her death.
“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,” Vanja Rasova, Josi’s friend, said. “When I woke up shortly after midnight, I noticed that she was no longer breathing. I tried to wake her up. When it didn’t work, I went down to reception to get help.”
Josi had 135,000 followers and posted pictures of herself often. Josi said she posted pictures of herself to share her journey.
“… I am on a journey, and I want you to join me. I want to share my thoughts and show that I am actively fighting anorexia. I also want to say that we should not hide ourselves away no matter what psychological illnesses we have,” Josi wrote underneath a photo of herself.
According to NIH, anorexia nervosa has a mortality rate of 10%. Josi said she didn’t want to die from the disorder.
“I don’t want to be one in 10 who die from anorexia.”
