YouTube creator Billy LeBlanc shared the devastating news that his partner died after contracting a rare infection from oysters.
On July 14, LeBlanc, 44, posted on Instagram that he “almost died” but his girlfriend Natalie Clark, 37, “passed away” after they contracted the rare bacterial infection vibrio vulnificus from raw oysters.
“I’m sure none of you know but I recently almost died. I was in the hospital for 12 days. Unfortunately Natalie didn’t make it and she passed away,” he wrote in the caption of his post. “I will always remember how we got lost everywhere together. I will always love her and miss her.. Be safe and hold your loved ones tight you, never know when it’ll be the last time you see them.”
In addition to Billy’s post that he and Natalie contracted vibrio vulnificus—a potentially fatal bacterial infection that can cause fever, vomiting, and diarrhea, among other symptoms according to the Cleveland Clinic—from eating raw oysters, Billy’s mother, Yvette Berthelot LeBlanc, shared on Facebook on July 6 that the “past two weeks [have been] a hard time” for their family with the tragedy.
“Natalie lost her life and Billy was very close to death [and he was] in the ICU for 8 days,” she said in the post. “Please continue to pray for Natalie’s son Julian for her family and for Billy, both for his health and his heart.”
The YouTuber—whose channel has more than 200k subscribers—was part of the popular YouTube family that posted through the account Bratayleys with his ex-wife Katie LeBlanc and their children Annie, Hayley and their late son Caleb, who passed away in 2015.
The day before Billy announced Clark’s death, he posted a birthday message to his son Caleb, who had died at 13 years old from “natural causes,” as LeBlanc and his family had previously shared on Instagram.
“It seems like just yesterday, you would have been in this ihop with us. I miss you my little baby boy. Happy birthday.”
After his divorce in 2019, Billy began his own YouTube channel called “Just Billy LeBlanc,” where in 2020 he introduced Natalie—who was mom to 17-year-old son Julian—as his new girlfriend.
Earlier this year, Natalie shared a sweet birthday tribute to Billy, in which she also celebrated their life together.
“I see you birthday boy!” she captioned her January 19 post. “These are the special times. The ones that will make us the power couple we are even through the hard times. Here is to another year, not for us, but for you.”
