Fans of a 17-year-old football YouTuber honored his death by helping grow his following by tens of thousands

• A 17-year-old YouTuber has died after heart surgery, according to a tweet from his account.

• Over the past month, Alex Dragomir chronicled his hospital visits on YouTube and Twitter.

• Fans mourned the soccer fan's death with GoFundMe donations and by encouraging others to subscribe.

• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Alex Dragomir, a 17-year-old YouTuber known online as Sir Kipsta, died Thursday night after a seven-hour heart operation, according to a tweet from his Twitter account.

Dragomir was a micro-influencer in the world of YouTube football (soccer) fans. He had previously attended Cockshut Hill School in England, according to a tweet the school posted about his death.

A tweet from Dragomir's account, which appeared to be sent by his sister, announced his death and thanked viewers for their support over the past few months as the teen football fan struggled with health issues.

"Heaven gained another angel," the tweet said.

After they learned of his death, many viewers circulated an idea to grow Dragomir's YouTube subscribers to 10,000. That goal was quickly shattered in a few hours. The Sir Kipsta channel, which started at 2,500 subscribers on Thursday, has surpassed over 25,000 subscribers as of Friday afternoon.

"Alex tried his best to survive until the end," Dragomir's sister running the KipstaUnited Twitter account, told Insider.

Social media 'saved' Dragomir during his last few weeks

In February, Dragomir, who said he suffered from heart-related health issues, started posting his thoughts and live reactions to professional European football games, focusing on Manchester United. His channel remained relatively small, maintaining a following of around 2,500 subscribers.

His condition worsened in May and he was admitted to the hospital while awaiting a heart transplant, he said in videos at the time.

Dragomir said posting about his medical problems on social media brought positivity to his life in a difficult time.

"When the news came I had to stay [at the hospital] until the procedure was done, I got very sad," Dragomir said in a YouTube video on his channel about his medical journey. "My mental health was declining but Twitter saved me."

In the weeks before his death, Dragomir posted selfies from the hospital, notes with his caloric intake, and his appreciation for his thousands of new Twitter followers.

"YouTube helped him express himself to the world," Dragomir's sister told Insider. "He wanted to share his story and wanted others to understand him."

'RIP Alex' trended on Twitter as fans showed support

When the news of Dragomir's death spread on Thursday night and into Friday morning, social media users mourned the loss of the young football fan.

The phrase "RIP Alex" was trending on Twitter on Friday, with over 15,000 tweets remembering the content creator.

Marcus Rashford, a professional football player for Manchester United, shared a picture of Dragomir reading the athlete's book, "You Are a Champion," and said that he was "always thankful of your support."

Members of the online football-fan community started a GoFundMe that has raised over $20,000, though it's currently unclear where the money will be going.

Read the original article on Insider