Caleb LeBlanc, the young YouTube star also known as Caleb Bratayley, died on Oct. 1 due to a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes young people to suffer from cardiac arrest.
Caleb starred in his family's online video series uploaded in their YouTube channel Bratayley, which documents their family's adventures since 2010. The 13-year-old YouTuber suddenly died on Oct. 1 at the family's home in Baltimore, Maryland.
"Yesterday at 7:08 PM Caleb Logan Bratayley passed away of natural causes. This has come as a shock to all of us. Words cannot describe how much we will miss him," wrote Caleb's mother on the family's official Instagram account on Oct. 2.
The exact cause of Caleb's death has been identified by Baltimore's Chief Medical Examiner on Nov. 10.
Caleb's mother, Katie LeBlanc, shared on Instagram news about her son's cause of death. Katie wrote that Caleb didn't have any symptoms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The hearts of their two other children - 10-year-old Annie and 7-year-old Hayley - were recently checked and showed that they "look the way they should right now."
A photo posted by Annie Hayley Caleb Bratayley (@officiallybratayley) on Nov 10, 2015 at 9:05am PST
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a heart disease wherein the muscular tissue of the heart known as myocardium thickens to an abnormal state (hypertrophied). The thickening of the myocardium makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood normally. Many people could be suffering from the disease as it often goes undiagnosed due to very few symptoms or none at all.
However, in people diagnosed with HCM, symptoms could manifest in the form of chest pain, shortness of breath and an irregularity in the heart's electrical conduction system which could lead to a condition called arrhythmia, a fatally dangerous abnormality in the heart rhythm.
The LeBlancs live streamed Caleb's memorial service on Oct. 9 via Facebook and Periscope so that fans could join in the celebration of Caleb's life. The live-streamed videos on Periscope and Facebook had 116,000 views after just an hour online.
