Welcome to Plathville star Olivia Plath announced that her younger brother, Micah Meggs, has passed away at the age of 15.
“Hey guys, I’m jumping off of social media for a bit. Don’t worry if you don’t see me around – I’m taking some space now,” the reality star, 25, wrote via her Instagram Story on Thursday, May 4. Explaining her absence, she added, “I lost a younger brother last night to an unexpected accident and I need some clarity and space for grieving.”
Olivia — who tied the knot with husband Ethan Plath in 2018 — posted a similar statement via her Instagram Story on Tuesday, May 9, reminding customers of her photography business that she is “on a social media break due to a family death.”
According to local outlet The Roanoke Times, Micah was riding on his electric bike on U.S. Route 220 in Virginia on Thursday when he was hit by a Honda Accord around 10 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene, while the Honda driver was not injured. The incident is currently under investigation by police.
The ninth of 10 children, Micah is survived by his parents, Don Meggs and Karen Meggs, siblings Elijah, Joshua, Elise, Lydia, Sophia, Nathan, Carris and Kirsten, grandmothers Juanita Meggs and Jerry Boyer, as well as multiple nieces and nephews.
“Micah loved to hang out with his siblings and a few close friends, playing practical jokes, sharing his understated sense of humor and bringing laughs to those he loved,” the family wrote in his obituary.
He also enjoyed “spending his time outdoors hunting, fishing, camping and trapping, and became a skilled outdoorsman,” according to his obituary, which features a picture of him holding a fish.
Having “suffered his entire life from Cerebral Palsy caused by a Brachial Plexus injury during his birth,” Micah spent recent years helping others with his same disability. Instead of flowers, the family is asking for mourners to donate to the Brachial Plexus Foundation.
“Micah brought tremendous light, laughter and love into every life he touched and his presence will be greatly missed,” his obituary states.
Olivia has starred alongside her husband, 24, and his family on Welcome to Plathville since its premiere in 2019. The series follows Ethan and his siblings — Hosanna, 23, Micah, 22, Moriah, 20, Lydia, 19, Isaac, 17, Amber, 14, Cassia, 11, and Mercy, 10 — breaking outside of parents Barry Plath and Kim Plath’s bubble and experiencing modern-day things for the first time, such as the internet, pop culture, soda and more.
Olivia and Ethan’s wedding stirred up some tension for the reality TV family, as Micah exclusively told Us Weekly in August 2021 that Kim tried to “make it her wedding almost.” The model added, “It was at her place. She had what she wanted to do. She’s just, you know, really excited, and I feel like that happens a good amount of times, but she probably went a little overboard and Olivia definitely felt that way.”
The wedding drama came four years before Barry and Kim called it quits after 24 years of marriage in June 2022. Not long after, Kim was arrested for DUI in October of that year, and she was sentenced to 50 hours of community service in addition to attending DUI school, completing a substance abuse evaluation and complying with drug and alcohol testing.
