Michaela DePrince, an orphan from Sierra Leone who was adopted by a US family, died on September 10 and within 24 hours her mom also passed.
„As unbelievable as it may seem, the two deaths were completely unrelated,” the family of the ballet star said.
Michaela DePrince performs ‘Giselle’ with the English National ballet at the Coliseum in London, in 2017 (Ian Gavan/Getty Images)
While Michaela’s cause of death is yet to be released, her adoptive mother Elaine DePrince died ‘during a routine procedure in preparation for surgery’ on September 11, a statement from their family confirmed.
Michaela’s sister, Mia Mabinty DePrince, spoke to the BBC earlier this week about the double tragedy.
She said: “I had just gotten off the phone with my mum’s doctor with her news when I was alerted about my sister, it just didn’t seem believable.
“It was really hard to hear because I normally pick up the phone to call my mum with anything, and it occurred to me that I couldn’t call her.”
The 29-year-old ballerina performed with Beyoncé and was seen as a trailblazer in the art, making history as the youngest principal dancer at the Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York.
Proud mom Elaine DePrince reading her daughter’s book in Amsterdam (Facebook/Elaine DePrince)
From there she moved to the Netherlands to dance with the Dutch National Ballet, before returning to the US as she progressed at Boston Ballet.
Michaela, who was born in the city of Kenema, was just three when both of her parents died as civil war raged across the country.
She was then placed in an orphanage where she was mistreated due to a skin pigmentation condition, vitiligo – having previously spoken about receiving less food and clothes than her peers.
Michaela released a memoir in 2014 titled Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina, chronicling her journey from the war-torn African country to ballet stardom.
It was the first of two books with her second, titled Ballet Dreams, being published three years later.
Michaela died on September 10 (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for American Ballet Theatre)
Following the deaths of Elaine and Michaela, the family released the following statement: „The last few days have been even more difficult than most people realize because the family has also been dealing with the death of Michaela’s adoptive mother Elaine DePrince.
„Her mother Elaine died during a routine procedure in preparation for a surgery on September 11th. Michaela died before Elaine, and Elaine did not know of Michaela’s passing at the time of her procedure.
„As unbelievable as it may seem, the two deaths were completely unrelated.”
It continued: „The only way we can make sense of the senseless is that Elaine, who had already lost three children many years ago, was by the grace of God spared the pain of experiencing the loss of a fourth child.
„What the family is going through right now is truly unimaginably painful. Grieving two family members who died within a 24 hour period is tragic and devastating.”