YouTube star Paul Harrell passed away at the age of 58, with the news revealed through a posthumous announcement.
“I’ll get right to the point: As I’m recording this, it is December 2023, and I’m giving [my manager] Brad [Nelson] instructions to release this upon my death.
So, if you’re watching me, I’m dead,” Harrell said in a YouTube video that was shared on Tuesday, September 3.
Harrell’s death followed a battle with pancreatic cancer, which he publicly disclosed in July 2023. In his initial diagnosis video, he mentioned that doctors had “caught it early.”
“Well, we did catch it early, but not as early as I had thought,” Harrell explained in the video released on Tuesday. “And it has spread faster than I expected.
You may have seen me using this crutch recently when I said I broke my hip. Well, it wasn’t due to any accident, it was because the cancer had spread to my bones, causing them to crumble, and my hip fractured.”
Harrell further acknowledged that his “time was drawing short” and made specific requests to his social media followers.
“To everyone who supports me on Patreon, thank you, but please don’t immediately cancel your support,” Harrell said.
“We’re hoping that the team, mainly my brother, will continue to create content for this channel.
There are people who pirate content in this format — and now that I’m gone, I can’t do anything about it — so please don’t put money in the hands of thieves. If you’re going to watch what I’ve done, make sure you’re watching it on my channel.”
He added, “I’m sure some people will use [my death] as a chance to attack my character, but I hope you know me well enough by now to discern what you should or shouldn’t believe. Don’t just accept any nonsense you hear.”
Over the years, Harrell created more than 400 videos focusing on wilderness survival and firearm safety. In his final video, he expressed gratitude to those who supported his work by watching or subscribing to his channel.
“I can’t begin to explain how much I appreciate all of that,” he shared. “I also want to say that my main goal in all of this was not just to have fun but to provide useful information.
Or, if not useful, at least interesting. I really hope that as you’ve been watching, you’ve seen something that made you say, ‘Oh, I get it.’
Or perhaps you’ve found something that made you change the way you did something in a way that helped you.
I truly hope that the reviews we’ve done have saved you money and kept you from purchasing things that wouldn’t have been a good fit.”
