A woman has taken to the BBC to send an urgent message after someone faked her death on social media. TikToker Grace Wolstenholme, who has used her platform to provide insight into what it’s like living with cerebral palsy, became the victim of a cruel turn when another account stated that she had died. Now, she wants to warn others.
Grace Wolstenholme, 22, has become a TikTok celebrity, boasting over one million followers. She has used her TikTok account to explain what it is like to live with cerebral palsy, which has been active since 2021.
However, her social media presence has now taken on a serious and disgusting turn. As per the BBC, one of Grace’s most popular videos was used by an account that appeared to sell pillows.
They used the video and added the caption, “I lost my autistic sister today so I bought this pillow to imitate cuddling her,” indicating that Wolstenholme had died.
The original video, which was posted in 2021, has gotten 5,2 million likes. IT shows Grace throwing a punch and falling over at the gym while working with a personal trainer.
22-year-old woman shares urgent message after someone faked her death on social media
Sadly, the death hoax has changed everything. Grace became aware of the horrifying way her video was used after someone had contacted her mom, passing their condolences.
“People were commenting, saying, ‘rest in peace, Grace. I love you’. People were severely devastated hearing I was dead,” Grace Wolstenholme told the BBC. “There’s a lot of bad people on social media, so you do need to check the facts.”
Grace Wolstenholme has been feeling unwell for three months, something she said made the death hoax appear genuine. Also, she lost thousands of followers as she had assumed she had died, which in the end reduced her income. The more video views and engagement you create through your account, the more money you receive from TikTok.
“My disability isn’t autism, it’s cerebral palsy. So he got my disability wrong, and said I was dead,” she continued, adding that TikTok finally took down the video after she had contacted an account on Instagram that had the same username.
However, the user sent a series of offensive messages to her and reposted the video on TikTok. The BBC contacted the company, and they removed it after stating that it had violated their community guidelines.
“Deeply disgusted”
However, TikTok did not want to comment about the concerns Grace Wolstenholme had about sharing disinformation on their platform. After it appeared what had happened, Grace’s followers were “deeply disgusted” by it.
“It’s triggering for my followers to see because some of my followers suffer with their mental health,” she said, adding that she reported the harassment to the Metropolitan Police.
A police spokeswoman said: “The victim continues to be supported by officers. At this stage no arrests have been made.”
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