Ballerina Michaela DePrince’s mom died before learning of daughter’s death
A spokesperson for the DePrince family is sharing more heartbreaking details after Michaela DePrince’s death.
The trailblazing ballerina was 29 at the time of her death. While few details are known about her death on Sept. 10, the family’s spokesperson, Jess Volinski, revealed that Michaela’s adoptive mom died the following day on Sept. 11.
“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,” Volinski wrote on Facebook.
According to Volinski, Elaine DePrince was unaware of her daughter’s death before her she died.
“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,” Volinski continued.
“As unbelievable as it may seem, the two deaths were completely unrelated. 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,” Volinski said.
According to The New York Times, Elaine and her husband Charles DePrince, who died in 2020, had adopted three sons prior to adopting Michaela and her sister, Mia, from war-torn Sierra Leone.
Their three boys had hemophilia, the outlet reported. All three boys contracted HIV, resulting in their deaths.
After returning to New Jersey with Elaine, Michaela’s talent was soon recognized and she devoted herself to ballet.
Michaela became a principal dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, The New York Times reported. She was later recruited by the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam.
In 2018, Misty Copeland described her as “one of today’s most visible and brilliantly talented young artists,” according to the outlet.
In addition to Mia, Michaela is survived by two brothers and four more sisters, all of whom were adopted by Elaine and Charles from Africa.