Nikkie Tutorials Experienced the Tragic Loss of Her Little Brother in 2018
Updated Oct. 24 2019, 1:09 p.m. ET
If you're well-versed in the realm of beauty bloggers, you may be familiar with popular Dutch makeup guru, Nikkie Tutorials (also known as Nikkie de Jager). Sadly, last year in May 2018, the YouTube star experienced a major loss when her younger step-brother, Mikai, passed away at only 14 years old.
So, what happened to Nikkie Tutorials' little brother? This is everything we know about his tragic death last spring.
Who was Nikkie Tutorials' brother and what happened to him?
If you haven't watched Nikkie's channel, let me bring you up to speed. According to Life & Style, she is a popular beauty blogger who has been making makeup tutorial videos on YouTube for several years now.
Nikkie's younger step-brother, Mikai, was about 10 years younger than her, but despite the major age gap, the two seemed to have been incredibly close.
In 2017, when Mikai was only 13, Nikkie revealed that he had been diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in a YouTube video, according to Earn The Necklace. The disease greatly suppresses your immune system, causing problems with your lymph nodes, spleen, thymus, and bone marrow.
And although the treatment is reportedly quite difficult, Mikai went into remission after several rounds of chemotherapy. But despite the treatment, he was re-diagnosed later that year.
A few months later, Mikai passed away.
Nikkie took to Twitter on May 24, 2018, to announce the tragic news that Mikai had passed away. She posted a photo with an incredibly heartfelt caption: "to my biggest hero, Mikai, now you can finally rest.”
According to Earn The Necklace, Mikai was consistently optimistic and almost always in good spirits, despite his highly debilitating illness.
It seems as though Nikkie and her family are handling the loss.
Right around the one-year anniversary of Mikai's passing in May 2019, Nikkie posted a video to Instagram featuring her mom, giving a shoutout to her deceased little brother.
In the video, the beauty blogger is seen doing her mom's makeup in total Nikkie fashion, dolling her up in bright pink eyeshadow and bright, cheerful blush.
And although the caption of the Instagram post is bittersweet, it's seemingly spirited and optimistic nonetheless.
The caption reads: "this week is rough for our family. Mikai would’ve turned 15 and next week it’ll be a year since he passed away... I want to thank you SO much for supporting this video." Check out the original post, below.
Despite the devastating loss, Nikkie seems to be doing quite well otherwise.
Career-wise, in terms of her YouTube channel, Nikkie seems to be achieving great success.
In addition to snagging various brand deals, it was recently revealed that the beauty vlogger was nominated for the 2019 Best Branded Content Streamy Award. So, fingers crossed that she snags the win. She also got engaged earlier this year to long-time boyfriend, Dylan.
There is definitely no denying that the death of Nikkie's teen brother last year was absolutely devastating. However, it's seriously heartwarming to see that she and her family are doing well.
RIP Mikai de Jager, you are greatly missed.
