Progeria advocate Adalia Rose's death mourned by YouTube community

YouTuber Adalia Rose, who became known online for battling the rare condition progeria, has passed away. Adalia’s death was announced via a statement on her Facebook and Instagram today (Thursday, 13 January).

The statement confirmed the young YouTube star, who was 15 years old, had died on Wednesday evening (12 January). As news of Adalia Rose’s passing spreads across social media, fans want to know more about her condition.

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Who was Adalia Rose and how old was she?

Adalia Rose Williams was a 15-year-old YouTuber and internet star who began making videos alongside her family in 2012.

One of her early viral videos on the platform was a post entitled Twins, which was a sweet clip of Adalia gushing about how she was twinning with her mother Natalia, who had recently shaved her head.

Adalia went on to become known for her dancing videos and make-up tutorials, which she often shared with her 2.91 million subscribers on YouTube.

While she was known for her videos on YouTube, she also had 12 million followers on Facebook and 370,000 on Instagram.

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What is progeria, Adalia Rose’s condition?

YouTube star Adalia Rose suffered from rare genetic condition Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome, commonly known as progeria.

As per the Progeria Research Foundation, the condition causes the “appearance of accelerated ageing” in children. Sufferers usually have a life expectancy of about 14 years.

Adalia was diagnosed with the condition when she was three months old following concerns about her lack of growth. Her mother Natalia talked about the diagnosis in an interview with the New Zealand Herald in 2018.

Natalia explained: “She was diagnosed at maybe like three months old. That’s when the real changes started happening. She started losing her hair and her little veins started showing up more and her skin started thinning out a lot more.”

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Tributes to internet sensation

Following the news of Adalia Rose’s passing, those who followed Adalia Rose and her progeria journey flooded social media with tributes:

We send our condolences to Adalia Rose’s family and friends at this difficult time.

Amber Peake

Amber is a freelance writer on The Focus who mainly covers anything celeb, music, and entertainment related. Having graduated with a BA (Hons) in Journalism from Brunel University in 2020, she has spent the last two years reporting the latest celeb news and pop culture trends across leading and national publishers. Starting her career at Express.co.uk as a showbiz reporter, Amber began contributing on The Focus in 2021. As well as her work on the site, she has also written across other GRV Media publications, including both Reality Titbit and HITC. When she's not scrolling endlessly on TikTok, you'll find Amber wrapped up in yet another DIY crafting project.