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Creative gamer Etika found dead after struggle with mental health

anti-bullying June 25, 2019
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The gamer world mourned today after the New York Police department confirmed the death of popular Nintendo Switch YouTube star, Desmond “Etika” Amofah. He was 29.

“We regret to inform that Desmond Amofah aka Etika has been found deceased,” the department’s Twitter handle announced.

Amofah’s body was found in Manhattan’s East River after going missing last week. Officials recovered his body two days after finding his belongings on the Manhattan Bridge.

Now his fans are saying that last week he had published a video that appeared like a suicide note to his YouTube channel TR1Iceman in which he appeared to express suicidal thoughts.

“I’m sorry for leaving such a stained legacy”

He said in a video, which has been reposted by other users on YouTube. “I hope that my story maybe helps to make YouTube a better place in the future where people know boundaries and limits and how far things should go.”

https://twitter.com/Videogameboypro/status/1141802548199866381

Born in Brooklyn, New York. Etika gained his following by posting YouTube videos and live-streams of mainly Nintendo content. He began creating videos on YouTube in 2012, and in less than a decade, amassed a following of over 800,000 dedicated fans across YouTube and Twitch.

It wasn’t until Oct. of last year that Erikah started to show signs that he was struggling with mental health.

He got his primary YouTube account terminated for “multiple or severe violations of YouTube’s policy on nudity or sexual content,” according to the video platform after uploading porn to his channel, costing him his base.

After, Amofah posted a message on Reddit saying in part, “And now, it’s my turn to die. I love you all.” Then it really went downhill from there.

In April, he live-streamed a standoff with police in Brooklyn after he had allegedly threatened to harm himself, Kotaku reported. In May, Amofah had an altercation with a security guard or police officer that led to another hospital visit.

Then came the video last week, which YouTube took down, apparently saying goodbye to fans. “It was a fun life,” he said. “I had a great time. It was great. But for it to be cut so short—it’s fucked.”

Policed reportedly responded to a person floating in the water and it was upon arriving that they discovered an unresponsive, unidentified male that ended up being Etika.

https://twitter.com/pewdiepie/status/1143573270823915520

Many saw the antics leading up to his death as publicity stunts while others argue they were cries for help, but the truth of the matter is that we should constantly be checking up on one another all the same.

As the community mourns, it’s important we check up on ourselves as well as others and know that it can happen to anyone.

The National Suicide Prevention Hotline in the U.S. is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255. A list of international suicide hotlines can be found here.

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