Ballerina Michaela DePrince, who died one day before her mother, remembered

While the ballet community and her family are still reeling from the death of famed ballerina Michaela Mabinty DePrince, a devastating turn of events has now occurred.

DePrince's mother, Elaine DePrince, died less than 24 hours after her 29-year-old daughter died. Her family said it was a tragic coincidence, unrelated to the incident.

On Friday, the DePrince family confirmed Michaela's sudden death, which occurred on Tuesday. Over the weekend, they posted that Elaine died on Wednesday “during a routine procedure in preparation for surgery.”

“The last few days have been even more difficult than most people realize, as the family has also had to deal with the death of Michaela's adoptive mother, Elaine DePrince,” DePrince family spokesperson Jess Volinski wrote Saturday.

Elaine DePrince did not know about her daughter's death “at the time of the procedure” and the two deaths were “in no way related,” Volinski wrote.

“We can only make sense of the senseless when we consider that Elaine, who had already lost three children many years ago, was spared the pain of losing a fourth by God's grace,” Volinksi wrote. “What the family is going through is truly painful beyond imagination. To mourn the loss of two family members who died within 24 hours of each other is tragic and devastating.”

“An unforgettable inspiration,” says the DePrince family

Michaela Mabinty DePrince was called to ballet at a young age. In 2015, she told Glamour that a magazine cover with a ballerina on pointe shoes fell on her face outside her orphanage in Sierra Leone.

The cover was the first thing she gave to her adoptive mother, Elaine DePrince, who sent her to dance classes as soon as they settled in New Jersey. Michaela DePrince grew up with 11 siblings, nine of whom were adopted, according to Glamour.

As Glamour reported, as a teenager, Michaela DePrince won a scholarship to study at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in New York City, a pre-professional ballet training program at the American Ballet Theatre. And the rest is history.

She danced with a number of professional ballet companies, including the Joburg Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Dutch National Ballet and most recently the Boston Ballet, USA TODAY reported. Michaela DePrince “achieved her dreams and then some,” her family wrote.

Aside from her professional ballet achievements, Michaela DePrince has become an icon outside of the ballet community as well. She starred in the 2011 documentary First Position, landed a guest role on Dancing with the Stars, appeared in Beyoncé's 2016 music video Freedom, became the focus of a Madonna-directed biopic, and wrote two books: Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina and Ballerina Dreams.

She “touched so many lives around the world, including ours,” the DePrince family said in a statement. “She was an unforgettable inspiration to all who knew her or heard her story.”

“From her early life in war-torn Africa to stages and screens around the world, she achieved her dreams and more,” they said. “Her passion and influence on the dance world, particularly in inspiring young black dancers to pursue their dreams, was enormous. We will miss her and her beautiful smile forever and we know you will too.”

Condolences pour in after the “sudden” death of ballerina Michaela DePrince

Condolences poured in from all over the world after the young ballerina's death was announced.

Numerous women, dance companies and those whose paths crossed with the ballet superstar or her work are devastated by the loss and are taking to social media to pay their respects and honor her memory.

While Michaela DePrince's funeral will be held privately, the DePrince family has asked the public to consider donating to War Child, an organization they worked closely with, in lieu of flowers, USA TODAY reported.

“This work meant the world to her and your donations will directly help other children growing up in an environment of armed conflict,” the DePrince family said in a post on Friday.

Some of the online posts dedicated to Michaela DePrince after her death are compiled below.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ballerina Michaela DePrince, who died one day before her mother, remembered