Lynn Ban, a celebrity jewelry designer from Singapore who starred in the Netflix reality show Bling Empire, has died a month after undergoing brain surgery following a skiing accident. She was 51 years old.
Her son Sebastian confirmed her death in an Instagram post on Wednesday, where he paid tribute to his mother as “the best friend and the best mother”.
The accident happened in Aspen, USA on Christmas Eve.
Ban’s family did not disclose her immediate cause of death.
In a post on social media on New Year’s Eve, Ban revealed that she fell and “smashed her face” while skiing at the top of the mountain.
Because she was wearing a helmet, “it didn’t seem so bad at the time and I was able to ski to the bottom,” she said, adding that a ski patrol officer later checked for a concussion and released her.
However, she still had a “little headache” and decided to go to the hospital on the advice of the paramedic. That’s when she discovered she had a brain bleed and went in for an emergency craniotomy.
“In the blink of an eye… life can change,” she wrote in a post accompanied by a picture of herself in bed with a partially shaved head. “We have a long road to recovery ahead of us, but I survived.”
Born in Singapore, Ban has worked in New York, London and Paris.
Her creations have been worn by pop stars Madonna, Beyonce, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Cardi B and Billie Eilish, according to her website.
On Bling Empire New York 2023, she was part of a group of Asian-American socialites who “flaunt their wealth — and fashion — while bringing the drama and living it up in New York,” according to Netflix.
In his tribute, Sebastian Ban said he wanted the world to know who his mother was as a person.
“She always had a smile on her face, even when times were tough during her recovery process,” he said.
“She’s a fighter through and through and the strongest woman I know,” he said.
