TikTok Influencer Veruca Salt's Infant Passed Away Suddenly in His Sleep — What Happened?

There’s sad news all over the world, but we never expect to hear about an infant randomly dying. Still, that’s what sadly happened to influencer Veruca Salt, who rose to fame on TikTok through sharing bits of her everyday life. Veruca, whose real name is Kimberley Summer Hartley, took her followers along with her throughout her pregnancy journey.

Veruca’s son, Cash Harrison Stirling, was born in December 2023. Since his birth, she’s shared videos of their life together and her life as a new mother. But sadly, that’s come to an end after Cash’s sudden death. But what happened?

Born Dec. 19, 2023, Cash was just six weeks old when he died in his sleep. Veruca’s last post before his death was on Feb. 4, in which she shared that she was taking him to the hospital because he hadn’t pooped in seven days. That’s obviously not a good sign, but since she took him to the hospital, we can imagine that doctors believed the problem had been dealt with.

After that, Veruca had been oddly silent on social media as followers continued commenting on her videos. On Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, Veruca announced that her baby had died in an Instagram story. “It is with a heavy heart that I’m writing this,” she began. “My baby died in his sleep on Monday morning.”

“I don’t know what happened,” she continued. “He is having an autopsy this week but it is unlikely that I’ll ever have an answer. I’m just saying this because people are still commenting on my TikToks saying how happy I look with him and ‘just wait for the toddler stage’ and stuff and I really can’t take it anymore. I’m really sorry.”

Veruca’s message is heartbreaking, especially considering her sign-off with an apology when it’s very clearly not her fault. Throughout all her videos with Cash, she put all of her heart and love into raising him, showing how much she loved her little guy.

Veruca lives on the Gold Coast of Australia, and although she was born in New Zealand, she lived in Australia from age 3 years onward. She spent some time in London before returning to the land down under, where she moved into a shared house in September 2023. While we don’t know exactly what happened, police don’t suspect any foul play, especially considering his earlier medical issues.

“At the moment, it's still under investigation and we're awaiting autopsy results,” Gold Coast Superintendent Craig Hanlon said (via 7News). “It’s obviously a tragic situation and our hearts go out to the mother and the family.”

It’s safe to assume that Veruca called the police immediately when she noticed something was wrong. “Police were called to a Southport unit at 6:13 a.m. yesterday, Monday, February 5,” a police statement shared by Daily Mail Australia said. However, little else is known about the events of Feb. 5 and what led to Cash’s premature death.

As fans share kind messages with Veruca during this impossibly difficult time, we also send our condolences to her and her family.