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Travel influencer Vanessa Konopka has died at 28, months after she was diagnosed with severe liver damage and pneumonia.
Her boyfriend Fernando — with whom she ran the travel account Happiness Crossing — shared a post to his and his girlfriend’s Facebook page to announce her death.
“This morning, on March 7th, Vanessa passed away. She always loved connecting with you all, and her love for the Philippines was beyond words,” he wrote in the caption. “Once again, I can only ask for your prayers so that God may bring comfort to the hearts of her loved ones. I trust in Him, I know He is with Vanessa and I know God is always with us.”
Fernando concluded the post, which included photos of Konopka, by sending an emotional message to her.
“Kushka, if you are perhaps reading this somewhere, thank you so much for teaching me how to love myself doesn't matter what other people think, she showed me how to love myself, and how to follow my dreams!” he wrote. “I will forever love you and we may see each other again.”
The German content creator was hospitalized in the Philippines on December 31, according to a GoFundMe page created by Fernando. Her illnesses “made her extremely weak,” and she was “unable to eat properly, walk, or even speak easily,” he shared in his plea for financial assistance.
On the fundraiser page, created on January 14, he also noted that he was raising money to get Konopka on “a medical air ambulance” flight to Germany, since it would have been the “safest option” amid her health condition.
He was hoping to raise nearly $227,500 to cover the flight, along with “funds to cover her medical bills and any other care she might have.” The page has raised $6,729 at the time of writing.
Fernando and Konopka ran their travel account, Happiness Crossing, on Instagram, which has 39,400 followers, and Facebook, which has 251,00 followers. They frequently posted about some of the best spots to visit in Boracay, Philippines.
During her stay in the hospital this year, Konopka occasionally posted on social media. In one video shared on Instagram in January, she filmed herself sitting in her hospital bed and documented her morning routine.
The clip included one moment of her reminiscing on memories in the Philippines, and another of her sitting outside the hospital in her wheelchair. She also documented the series of medical tests she got done amid her liver damage and pneumonia diagnosis.
“Experiencing the hardest journey of my life right now in the Philippines,” she wrote.
Fernando also shared a few updates about his girlfriend’s health on Facebook, noting that she’d reunited with her family in late February.
“Vanessa is out of danger now, she reunited with her Mother and they are both now in Boracay,” he wrote in the post, shared on February 20. “They will wait a few more days till Vanessa gets strong enough so she can go back to Germany for treatment. We thank you for all your prayers, all donations, all words of support. God will bless you all.”
In the comments of Fernando’s post, where he announced his girlfriend’s death, many fans paid tribute.
“Oh my God... this is so heartbreaking and shocking. Vanessa... you are so loved by Filipinos and such a beautiful soul to be gone so early. My deepest condolences to the whole family,” one wrote.
“My sincere condolences to Fernando and to Vanessa's family. I’m a huge fan, and this is sad. My prayers for her soul that it may rest in peace,” another added.
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