AN INFLUENCER who documented her battle with an auto-inflammatory disease – so rare that it has not been named yet – has died aged 31.
Rita Ephrem, a Brazilian content creator, had amassed more than 322,000 followers on Instagram where she posted about her diagnosis and stints in hospital.
Her death on March 26 followed a long journey of “struggle, courage, and also much pain,” according to a tribute shared on her social media.
She was remembered as someone who lived “with intensity, faith, and a love that touched so many lives.”
The tribute added: “She went to find rest in heaven, alongside the saints and Our Lady, after a journey marked by great struggle, courage, and also much pain.
“Her story does not end here – it lives on in everything she planted within each of us.
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“We carry on with a sense of longing, but also with gratitude for having walked alongside her.”
Ephrem was born in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte to Lebanese parents, before moving to Lebanon when she was young.
After completing her studies in Lebanon, she returned to Brazil when she was 25, around the time that she started experiencing severe symptoms – recurrent high fever, joint pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, and changes in blood pressure and heart rate.
Initially, doctors were unable to identify the cause of the problem, but she was eventually diagnosed with the ultra-rare auto-inflammatory condition, local media g1 reported.
In addition, Ephrem also had common variable immunodeficiency – a
condition that prevents the body from producing antibodies and makes it difficult to respond to infections and vaccines, which left her dependent on constant medical care.
Her illness often left her hospitalised for large stretches of time.
She faced at least seven strokes, dozens of thromboses, infections, as well as more than 20 intubations and five cardiac arrests.
Recurring episodes of meningitis and other systemic inflammations also plagued her.
As a result, the patient developed motor and respiratory impairments, requiring her to use oxygen and experiencing limitations in her mobility.
Her family shared the update that Ephrem was in “critical condition,” some two weeks before her death.
“The medical team has yet to identify the bacteria responsible for the infection, which has made the treatment even more delicate,’ her family wrote.
In a post on Instagram they said that she had required intubation and was receiving multiple antibiotics.
Following the announcement of her death, other Brazilian influencers paid tributes to her, describing her life as one that “gave light” and her as an “angel.”
One tribute read: ” Your words will never be forgotten, words that touched me as if you touched your hand on my chest.
“I was always rooting for you to be cured out of the hospital, walking and one day, who knows, I’ll give you a hug on your feet too, but I believe that one day it will happen in a much more beautiful place than the one where you lived…”
Ephrem was laid to rest in São Paulo on March 31.
