Ayla Grace Loseth
Image Credit: Springfield Funeral Home
December 08, 2022 - 9:00 AM
A celebration of life service for a 9-year-old West Kelowna girl who died in late November in Kelowna General Hospital will be held tomorrow, Dec. 9
Ayla Grace Loseth was taken to hospital by her parents Chrissy and Brad on Nov. 26 with dehydration, nausea and fever. They were told it was the flu but, three days later, she died from sepsis from Strep A, her aunt Katie told iNFOnews.ca.
“Ayla was a beautiful and vibrant presence to all who knew her,” says an obituary posted online by Springfield Funeral Home. “She was gifted, artistic and incredibly talented; she generously shared her singing, dancing and artistry with anyone she came across. She was a very social girl and enjoyed being around people.”
She loved animals, including her cat Moose and dogs Blue and Sally. She was an accomplished equestrian who loved her pony Holly and horse Titanium, the obituary said.
“Ayla showed her warm and caring nature in most everything she did and loved to help,” it read. “She had a strong sense of responsibility and took exceptional care of her baby brother Leighton, who she loved dearly.”
The celebration of life service will be at Trinity Church Kelowna at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Dec. 9.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held in Ayla’s memory on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 10:30 a.m., at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church.
Both services will be live streamed. You can get more information here.
An online fundraising campaign has been started and has collected more than $83,000 for the family.
“The death of a child is a lifetime of pain and grief,” the posting by Chantal and Friends on the online fundraising page says. “This family can barely function. They need to grieve with the only focus being on their little boy now. It is not suitable for them to face the grief and financial burden of the funeral and all their bills without the ability to work.”
Strep A, which is short for A streptococcus, includes illnesses like strep throat, sinus infections, skin or wound infections, fever and rash (scarlet fever), according to a Government of Canada website. A Canadian Centre for Disease Control website symptoms include fever, sore throat and swollen tonsils but no coughing.
- This story was updated at 3:23 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2022 to correct the diagnosis.
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