A Tourette ‘s-suffering influencer who was praised for talking about the condition has died.
Jan Zimmermann was found dead in his flat after having a seizure.
The discovery of the YouTuber’s body has sparked a police investigation.
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Tragic Jan was found last Tuesday evening (18 Nov) in Königswinter, near Bonn, Germany.
“We opened a routine death investigation, which has now been completed,” a police spokesperson told local media.
“The autopsy found no signs of anything suspicious or any third-party involvement.”
Jan died “very suddenly and unexpectedly from an epileptic seizure,” according to his family, as reported by Need To Know.
Jan first opened up about living with Tourette’s syndrome in a German TV report in February 2019.
The response was overwhelmingly positive and led him to launch the YouTube channel Gewitter im Kopf – which translates as Thunderstorm in the Head – with friend Tim Lehmann.
The channel quickly shot him to nationwide fame, where he shared his day-to-day life with Tourette’s – always with humour – to an audience of 1.99 million subscribers.
At the end of 2022, he underwent surgery to have a “brain pacemaker” fitted in hopes of easing his tics, though Tourette’s remained a part of his life.
It is not known whether it played any role in his death.
In a statement issued yesterday (24 Nov), Jan’s family said: “His humour, his honesty and his big heart were gifts he shared with everyone.
“He gave courage to people who never even met him, showing them that even on the hardest days, you can still move through life with love and openness.”
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