Cause of death announced for beauty influencer Maria Rita Rodrigues da Silva who died 'suddenly' aged 25
The cause of death of a 25-year-old beauty and fashion social media star, who died suddenly last week has been announced.
Maria Rita Rodrigues da Silva, who simply went by the name Maria Rita online, died on Saturday February 21, as announced by family last Friday.
Her cause of death was not announced at the time, they simply said she had a “sudden illness”. Now, the family of the star have returned to Instagram to give more information.
In a lengthy post uploaded to Rodrigues’s Instagram account, her family shared new details about the circumstances of her death, and also paid further tribute to her.
It has been revealed that the content creator was at home with her parents and boyfriend at the time of her death. They said she “lost her breath and fainted in her bed.” They immediately called an ambulance and she was taken to hospital, but she experienced four cardiac arrests and died a short time later.
Her official cause of death was an acute myocardial ischemia and pulmonary thromboembolism, the post said, adding that she was not taking any medication at the time. Myocardial ischemia is a lack of blood flow getting to your heart muscle, usually caused by a blockage or narrowed artery. A pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood clot gets stuck in an artery in the lung, blocking blood flow to part of the lung. According to the National Institute of Health, this is a rare but a potentially fatal combination.
“It all happened very quickly and without suffering,” read the post. Rodrigues’s family then remembered the late, saying she had a “high spirit” and was “always enchanting everyone around her with her brilliance and light.”
“Maria Rita was in a wonderful moment of her life, having graduated from college a few months prior, in her dream job in her field, living the relationship she had always asked God for, and in harmony with everyone. She left happy,” the family added.
Last week, Rodrigues parents shared the news of their daughter’s death with a statement online. They wrote: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved daughter Maria Rita.” In a separate post, they added: “Unfortunately, Maria suffered a sudden illness and left us”, but no further details were announced at that time.
Maria, from São Bernardo do Campo in Brazil, had more than 65,000 followers on TikTok and also more than 11,000 on Instagram. She was known for posting beauty and fashion content, including reviews and tutorials with popular make-up products. She also posted selfies and photos of her travels, including trips to Peru and Uruguay.
Her friend Lígia wrote a tribute to her online in the comments section of the statement her parents posted: “She was always such a lovely person during her time with me in the sewing and pattern-making studio at Fine Arts. I'm so very sorry,” she said.
Another friend and fellow content creator, Luana Lilian, said in her own tribute on Instagram that the late influencer was a “charming person” and “one of those presences that effortlessly illuminate a room.”
Maria appeared to last update her onw social media account on Thursday (February 19), just two days before her death — to show off a new pair of sunglasses.