Zhanna Samsonova had millions of followers who saw her as the perfect example of healthy living. For at least four years she ate only raw fruit, sunflower sprouts, and juices; her friends say that over the last seven years she practically ate only durian and jackfruit.
Months before she died, someone who saw her in Sri Lanka noticed something no one mentioned on social media: she was exhausted, with swollen legs and lymph oozing from them. She kept posting happy content, excited about durian season in Thailand, seven weeks before her death.
She died on July 21, at the age of 39, during a tour of Southeast Asia. Her mother spoke of a cholera-like infection, but the family is still waiting for the official medical certificate. No one in her close circle stopped what was already clearly coming.
