How tragic Vegan influencer Zhanna Samsonova went from aspiring model to fruit-based yoga star who ‘starved to death’
ONCE an aspiring Russian model, Zhanna Samsonova ended up tragically dying in intensive care thousands of miles from her home.
Shocking old pictures reveal a happy, healthy-looking Samsonova before she embarked on a deadly mission to stop drinking water and survive on only raw fruit.
The Russian national – known as Zhanna D’Art to her social media followers – died on July 21 far from home in a Malaysian hospital.
Her mother, Vera Samsonova, said she had caught a “cholera-like infection” – exacerbated by her diet – just hours before she was due to fly home from her travels.
The 39-year-old vegan influencer is feared to died from starvation and exhaustion after attempting for years to live off “only fruits, sunflower seed sprouts, fruit smoothies and juices.”
Footage of the social media creator in her 20s reveals a smiling and healthier young woman who had hopes to be a successful model.
Comparing it to the last pictures of Samsonova before her death, it shows the stark and painful toll that years of a raw fruit-only diet took on her body.
It comes as her 63-year-old mother, Vera, has told of her heartbreaking last phone conversation with her daughter where she begged her to return home.
“Zhanna, you need to go to Moscow,” the 63-year-old had pleaded.
“I understood that Zhanna was about to die, but still I could not help her in any way. My daughter’s life has turned into a nightmare,” she told Russian newspaper Novye Izvestiya.
The mother said that she had “fought for years” to save her troubled daughter but that she had refused to “listen to her mother”.
Her daughter had left Russia in 2006 without a return ticket and spent the last 17 years travelling around Asia, practicing yoga and blogging.
In the months leading up to her death, the lifestyle influencer’s friends feared that her diet was becoming increasingly restrictive and her anorexia was getting worse.
One friend, Olga Chernyaeva, explained how Samsonova could barely walk when she saw her last.
“I watched her journey to death for seven years. About five months ago, I met Zhanna in Sri Lanka and she had a haggard look.
“Her legs were swollen… It was amazing that she was still moving – I think she did it through pain.”
Chernyaeva added that she was forced to helplessly watch as Samsonova – who refused to get treatment – turned to “only bones” and was left bed-bound.
“She was in bed for almost a month. If she got up, it was very difficult for her to walk – it took several minutes to overcome one step of the stairs.”
The raw food influencer also had previously touted online that her body does not “require” water.
“I have not drunk water for the last 6 years. This is a common occurrence in those who are on a fruit diet,” she wrote on Instagram post from last year.
“This is not something that I limit or restrain myself, it’s just that my body does not require it,” she added.
Another friend reported how seeing Samsonova several months ago had left her “horrified”.
“Her hands were like those of my 12-year-old sister, thin,” they told Russian news outlet 116.ru.
“A few months ago, in Sri Lanka, she already looked exhausted.
“They sent her home to seek treatment. However, she ran away again. When I saw her in Phuket, I was horrified.
“I lived one floor above her and every day I feared finding her lifeless body in the morning. I convinced her to seek treatment, but she didn’t make it.”
Samsonova regularly promoted her fruit-only diet online, telling her 16,000 followers: “I see my body and mind transform every day.
“I love my new me, and never move on to the habits that I used to use.”
Even as she grew thinner and weaker, she believed that her diet made her look younger and healthier than her friends.
She said: “I feel very sad when I see most of my peers. Because of junk food, they look much older than their age.”
Only days before she died, Samsonova shared the haunting last message: “Life is meaningless but worth living provided you recognise it’s meaningless.”
The cryptic note written over a selfie with her mouth open came after seven weeks of conspicuous silence on her Instagram.
Samsonova’s official cause of death has not yet been determined and her family are currently fighting to bring her body home.
The Beat Eating Disorders helpline is open 365 days a year. Call 0808 801 0677 or see beateatingdisorders.org.uk.
Signs and symptoms of anorexia
- if you’re under 18, your weight and height being lower than expected for your age
- if you’re an adult, having an unusually low body mass index
- missing meals, eating very little or avoiding eating any foods you see as fattening
- believing you are fat when you are a healthy weight or underweight
- taking medication to reduce your hunger (appetite suppressants)
- your periods stopping (in women who have not reached menopause) or not starting (in younger women and girls)
- physical problems, such as feeling dizzy, dry skin and hair loss