Social media fitness and lifestyle guru Scott Murray MacDonald died on February 23 at the age of 27.
MacDonald described himself on his YouTube channel as “A skinny man with a HUGE energy expenditure and a love for eating a tonne of food while spreading PROPER, evidence based fitness/nutrition info! Enjoying life. SUBSCRIBE to join the potato fam!”
MacDonald boasted over 46,000 followers on his channel. His last video appeared on his page three weeks before his death. At the time of writing, that video has 82,000 views.
While on his Instagram page, MacDonald had 134,000 followers. On that profile, MacDonald describes himself as an online coach who specializes in diet and training. He says that his methods are backed by science. His most recent post on Instagram came on February 12, less than two weeks before his tragic death.
MacDonald also operated the website ScottMacDonaldFitness.com.
MacDonald ‘died suddenly’ at his home while making dinner in Ireland
According to an online obituary for MacDonald, he died suddenly at his home in Dublin, Ireland.
The tribute says that MacDonald is survived by his parents, uncles, aunts, grandmother, cousins, as well as extended family and friends. His funeral and cremation took place on March 1.
The Irish Sun, quoted Rev. Ross Styles who was speaking at MacDonald’s funeral, saying that he passed away while making dinner at his home on February 23. Styles said, “He put his soul into helping others, with great success while ironically in the end he ignored his own health which lead to his eventual downfall.”
A fellow YouTuber said that Scott Murray MacDonald’s cause of death was heart failure
According to another lifestyle YouTuber, The Iron Musket, MacDonald died as a result of heart failure.
One of MacDonald’s fans from Guatemala paid tribute to the fitness icon in an online tribute forum saying, “I’m sorry about the loss of this beautiful and good man. I was one of his clients and we exchanged numerous emails. He was always friendly, kind, and funny. I remember that I wrote to him that I was afraid of eating more food and he insisted to me that food is my fuel and my energy to train hard but he wasn’t aware of his own body… . I really admire him, he contributed a lot of tools to the fitness industry and helped a lot of us. I also made him a drawing that he liked.”
Most of the online guestbook referenced how people never met MacDonald but his lifestyle had a huge influence on their lives.
Another fan paying tribute, this time on Twitter, said that MacDonald was the GOAT of the Irish fitness scene.
MacDonald had a master’s degree in nutrition as well as a degree in health and performance
MacDonald was born in Italy but moved to Ireland in his youth where he attended high school, according to The Irish Sun. During his high school years, MacDonald excelled in golf and swimming, the newspaper reported.
He later graduated from University College Dublin with a degree in Health and Performance. MacDonald later attained a master’s in nutrition.