Fourth-generation farmer Caitlyn Loane, who posted popular TikTok clips capturing her action-packed rural lifestyle, took her own life at 19 after posting a haunting final video.
“Words can’t describe our loss,” Loane’s Australia-based family said in a statement about their daughter’s death by suicide, the Daily Mail reported.
A trailblazer for women in agriculture, the young cowgirl had worked as a livestock manager at her parent’s 1,400-acre (2.3-square-mile) cattle farm in Tasmania, which Loane planned to run when she was older, News.com.au reported. The country gal documented her day-to-day routine — which ranged from treating sick heifers to showcasing her latest country couture — to her more than 51,000 followers on TikTok.
The haunting final video before Loane died, which currently boasts over 170,000 views, depicts a photo montage of the pioneering farmer’s life set to a song asking, “How far would you drive for the girl of your dreams?” In the caption, she wrote, “How about to Tasmania?”
Loane’s family said they were devastated by the loss.
“She was a lovely, crazy young woman who was an invaluable member of our family,” said her bereaved father, Phillip Loane.
The teen’s mother, Richele, said her daughter’s “smile lit up the room” and that she “wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty.”
Just this past month, Loane opened up about her agrarian career path to TasWeekend magazine during Agfest Tasmania, where the young woman was overseeing cattle judges, the Daily Mail reported.
“In 2018, I realized that school wasn’t giving me the skills and experience I needed, so I applied to the Sunday Creek Cattle Station, in the Northern Territory, so I could gain experience and learn more,” Loane said at the time. “Up there the properties are huge, and they muster with helicopters and on horseback.”
She added, “It was character building, and I had to adopt a great work ethic which I apply to my own enterprise here at home.”
Friends also mourned her tragic death.
“Oh how my heart hurts to know you have left us all, the bright, bubbly, beautiful but crazy girl,” wrote a bereaved classmate on Facebook. “I will never ever forget the fond moments and memories we have together.”
A local sports club that Loane belonged to also paid tribute: “It is with deep sadness and regret that the Devonport Football Club acknowledges the sudden passing of one of our female players, Caitlyn Loane.”