How Did Lotte Van Der Zee Die? New Details About The Tragic Death Of Miss Teen Universe At 20
She was only 20 years old.
instagram It’s been said that only the good die young, and this saying couldn’t be any truer with the recent passing of Lotte van der Zee. Hailing from Holland, back in 2017, she won the title of Miss Teen Universe. At only 20 years old, she died, leaving behind distraught parents and fans from all over the world.
But how did Lotte van der Zee die? At the end of February, the pageant queen suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Austria with her family.
Following the heart attack and subsequent cardiac arrest, doctors put van der Zee in an artificial coma. Her parents, ert van der Zee and Eugeniek van het Hulbroke, took to Instagram after her heart attack to keep her fans in the loop.
In the post her parents wrote:
Dear friends,
It is with the deepest sadness that we have to inform you about the reason behind Lotte’s public absence the past couple of days.
Two days ago, during our holiday in Westendorf, Austria, Lotte started to feel unwell throughout the course of the afternoon. A feeling that swiftly escalated in sudden cardiac arrest.
She was helped to the nearest hospital where she got into a coma and is since then kept a sleep under intensive supervision of the doctors in order to monitor her health.
Thank you in advance for the loving words about our daughter. We are grateful for everyone's support and sincerely thank you for your love and positivity in these times when she needs it most.
We are grateful for the privacy during this difficult time. Our wish is that it continues that way. If you have any questions, please contact Lotte’s management.”
Her parents updated her social media with another message on March 1st, saying:
“Dear all, ‘If you share grief with each other you can be sad and happy at the same time.’ This is something that you have made us experience this past week.
That is why we want to thank you for all the beautiful messages and for your sincere and loving support. It is wonderful to see how many people are intensely involved with Lotte and with us.
Even though the feeling of powerlessness made us think that we were in this alone at first we were able to draw a massive amount of strength from all your loving support. We are convinced that Lotte feels this too.
Lotte's situation is unfortunately still unchanged. However, she has now been transferred to an academic hospital in Munich, where she is still kept a sleep under intensive supervision of the doctors in order to monitor her health.
We wanted to share this with you personally and appreciate the respect for our privacy during this difficult time. If you have any more questions, please contact Lotte's management.”
But just two weeks later, on March 6th, she passed away while in a hospital in Munich. Her parents, again, took to Instagram to share their heartbreaking news:
“Our pearl, our everything passed away on Wednesday evening March 6th at 22:47. It is incredibly surreal that our dearly beloved Lotte is not around us anymore. Our hearts are truly broken... We would like to thank you all again for all the support and heartwarming messages.”
In a piece on De Limburger, van der Zee’s mother explained what happened, saying, “It started with her kidneys. She was then put on kidney dialysis, which kept her alive. But when it became clear on Wednesday that it would not be okay, she was taken off the machine. Lotte has had to endure a lot over the past few days. We did not want any further suffering.”
Within 30 minutes of being taken off the machine, she took her last breath. Van der Zee just celebrated her 20th birthday on February 21st. The Miss Teenager pageant also posted a touching tribute on Instagram to remember the young model:
Samantha Maffucci is an editor for YourTango who focuses on writing trending news and entertainment pieces. In her free time, you can find her obsessing about cats, wine, and all things Vanderpump Rules.