YouTuber and Social Media Influencer Adalia Rose Williams Has Passed Away at Age 15
Published Jan. 14 2022, 8:54 a.m. ET
Social media influencer Adalia Rose Williams, a 15-year-old Round Rock, Texas native who amassed nearly 3 million YouTube subscribers and 404,000 Instagram followers, has passed away.
Diagnosed with Hutchinson-Gilford progeria before turning 1, Adalia Rose used her platform to offer a glimpse into her life with her family. Her mother, Natalia Amozurrutia, and her grandmother frequently appeared in her videos.
What was Adalia Rose Williams' cause of death?
Adalia Rose passed away on Jan. 12, 2022. She was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition known as Hutchinson-Gilford progeria (or Benjamin Button disease) when she was 3 months old.
The family issued a statement on Instagram on Jan. 13, 2022, asking fans to respect their wish to mourn quietly.
"January 12, 2022, at 7 p.m. Adalia Rose Williams was set free from this world. She came into it quietly and left quietly, but her life was far from it. She touched MILLIONS of people and left the biggest imprint in everyone that knew her. She is no longer in pain and is now dancing away to all the music she loves," Adalia Rose's family shared.
"I really wish this wasn’t our reality, but unfortunately it is. We want to say thank you to everyone that loved and supported her. Thank you to all her doctors and nurses that worked for years to keep her healthy. The family would now like to mourn this huge loss in private," they added.
What disease did Adalia Rose Williams have?
The symptoms of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria include slow growth, alopecia (or hair loss), stiff joints, osteolysis (progressive destruction of periprosthetic bony tissue), and the loss of subcutaneous adipose tissue (the loss of the layer of fat beneath the skin).
Hutchinson-Gilford progeria can lead to generalized atherosclerosis (the build-up of fats, cholesterol, and other substances in and on the artery walls) and cardiovascular disease.
Most children diagnosed with the illness die of heart disease, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders. The average life expectancy is 13 years, per the Mayo Clinic.
"When Adalia was born, I think it was she was like a month old, and they weren't happy with her growth," Adalia Rose's mom, Natalia, told The New Zealand Herald in September 2018. "That was one of the symptoms that first popped up, and then it was also that the skin on her tummy was really tight and just different looking."
"She was diagnosed at maybe like 3 months old. That's when the real changes started happening," Natalia said. "She started losing her hair, and her little veins started showing up more, and her skin started thinning out a lot more."
As Natalia explained, she wanted to make sure Adalia Rose could live the best life possible: "We don't even really say the word 'progeria' very often. We just treat her like a normal 11-year-old and try to give her the best life."
Natalia was a single mom when Adalia Rose was born. She met Ryan Pallante, her husband, later on. They are raising three sons, Marcelo, Niko, and Emiliano, together.