Skateboarding coach Wade Yates is mourning the loss of his younger brother, Dequan, who passed away following complications from Graves’ disease.
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help the family with funeral expenses.
In an emotional post, Wade shared how difficult it was to watch his brother deal with the illness, which affected his thyroid and eventually led to an enlarged heart.
He also opened up about Dequan’s love for gaming and his passion for developing video games.
Known online as QuanniX, Dequan enjoyed Minecraft and was a big fan of the late content creator Technoblade.
Wade recalled how his brother had recently bought a keyboard to finish the music for his game.
He was excited about the project and had spent countless nights working on it.
The two brothers shared a close bond, living together and spending much of their time gaming.
Wade also remembered how Dequan always cared for him, including during difficult periods in his life.
His passing has left the family dealing with both emotional and financial challenges as they prepare for his final arrangements.
Those who wish to help can contribute through the GoFundMe campaign here.
Wade Posted:
"Losing my little brother and best friend to Graves’ disease is so heartbreaking.
Graves’ disease is an autoimmune condition that attacks the thyroid. Because the thyroid directly affects the heart, we lost Quanni to an enlarged heart. And boy, he had a big heart ❤️
Watching him deal with complications, medications, and doctor visits was already heartbreaking. Knowing who he was, what he wanted, and the goals we were setting together made it even harder. This wasn’t his only condition. He lived with agoraphobia and other complications too, but this one was affecting his health.
My brother was a huge gamer, QuanniX online (I go by Wade123X). He loved @MineCraft and was a huge fan of Techno. When Techno passed, I saw his heart break for the first time. I cried for and with him. We always said we would honor Techno by getting the legend on our skin one day.
He was developing video games I watched him work on for years and countless nights. His birthday had just passed. He bought a keyboard to finish the music in his game and barely used it a week 💔
He was so excited to finish. He was THRIVING on his passion. The week before his passing, I told him “how fucking proud” I was of him for going through all this and still making an effort on his own.
He was my roommate, my smoke-mate, the first person I called on the way home to ask what food or snacks he wanted. I would spend my last on anything he wanted, because I loved him so much.
When he left us, he was playing Project Zomboid, a game I begged to buy him for years. He finally let me buy it for him, and he and his friends were going hard on it the past couple of months. He told them “BRB” because he was heading outside with my mom to come get me. His last thoughts were to come to my aid because he cared so much, especially while I dealt with my own mental health.
I couldn’t stop kissing his forehead and hugging him in our last moments together.
Preparing for his final day has been hard mentally and financially, and our family is trying find a way through it.I’ll love you forever 🤍🕊️
#LLQuanniX #RIP #gravesdisease"