How friends remember Kamloops teen who died at music festival | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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How friends remember Kamloops teen who died at music festival

Adison Davies was 16 years old when she died on July 27, 2018, after going into medical distress at Kelowna's Center of Gravity music festival.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/GoFundMe

KAMLOOPS - It somehow kind of falls to Chrissie Peters-Davies to make sense of it all.

Her daughter’s many friends affectionately call her Mama C and they were always hanging around. She’s one of those second moms kids are sometimes fortunate to have, offering an ear, a hug and maybe that piece of wisdom. About trouble. About life. About death.

Adison Davies was often at her house, almost inseparable from her daughter and Mama C got to watch her grow up. When 16-year-old Adison died Saturday at a music festival in Kelowna, she naturally sat with her daughter to tell us about her.

"We were related through love," Chrissie says.

Adison Davies was best friends with her daughter Abi Davies. You read that right, Abi and Adison Davies; no relation, though they speak of her as a sister and a daughter. Adison’s family was naturally too distraught to participate in the interview.

Abi and Adison became friends in grade eight after Adison called her up and asked if she could come hang out.

"As soon as she came over, I knew she was the missing piece in my life," Abi says. "I knew that she was my sister as soon as I met her."

Adison Davies and Abi Davies.
Adison Davies and Abi Davies.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Chrissie Peters-Davies

Their connection was instant and Adison barely left Abi's house for months. Adison wasn't judgemental and understood Abi's problems, as kids inevitably have, building an unconditional love.

Chrissie says no matter what was going on in Adison's own life, she cared most about what her friends and loved ones were going through.

"She just had one of those spirits about her that everyone wanted to be around," Chrissie says. "She was innocent, sweet, kind."

Adison always brought the fun with her wherever she went, and people were inclined to be around her because of her personality, Chrissie says.

She was also extremely focused on her education. She could have graduated from high school early, but instead challenged herself by taking more difficult courses before heading to university, aiming to go to post-secondary for a job in the medical field, Abi says. A post on a GoFundMe page set up for Adison's family says she was enrolled in Psychology and Sociology at Thompson Rivers University.

On Saturday night, while at the Centre of Gravity festival in Kelowna, she went into medical distress. She died after being rushed to Kelowna General Hospital.

The cause of death hasn't been determined yet by the B.C. Coroners Service. Abi and Chrissie struggle with some early reports suggesting she died from a drug overdose. But that's not what they want to focus on now.

"She wasn't just some stupid bimbo who liked to use drugs,” says Abi. "I want (everyone) to know that that's not true, she was a hardworking, amazing girl."

Abi, who enters Grade 12 this fall, says she had a feeling something was wrong on July 27. Adison was in constant contact through text and social media that day, but when she stopped responding, Abi got a sick feeling in her stomach.

Shortly after, Abi got a text from a mutual friend telling her the news. It was crushing for Abi and her family. They are still grieving for Brendan Stokes, a 19-year-old Kamloops man who died in a workplace accident in June.

Stokes worked with Chrissie's son-in-law, and much like Adison, spent plenty of time in her home.

"That's my sister and my big brother. Gone. Just like that," Abi says.

Adison was one of the first people Abi called after Stokes's death, and Adison helped her through it. Now all Abi wants to do is call Adison and have her friend comfort her through this. Chrissie said she could picture it: Adison laying in bed, letting Abi cry and stroking her hair.

"She was a ray of sunshine, like, always," Abi says. "She was an angel."

Adison, Stokes and the rest of the family's friends spent countless hours at Mama C’s. Chrissie and Abi are there now, telling stories, remembering how they contended with Chrissie's serious and sometimes silly house rules. One night, Abi and Adison snuck out of the house to go to the park at night. Chrissie woke the next morning to find muddy foot prints leading right to Abi's bedroom window.

Adison tried to take all the blame. She might have been protecting her friend, but Chrissie remembers she always owned up to her mistakes.

With all the loss over recent months, they’re leaning on each other, still making sense of it. Mama C says she wants kids to take something away from this. Learn from it.

And Abi says she is determined to live the life that Stokes and Adison never could, by making people happy and living life to the fullest.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Ashley Legassic or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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