A ‘beautiful’ girl’s gift to New Zealanders
She would give everything she had to make other people happy. Anne Loukas
The death of a 21-year-old Canadian woman may give New Zealanders a chance to live.
Angelika Melisa Loukas, an organ donor, died October 31 in Wellington Hospital two days after a car she was in crashed in Waitotara Valley in Taranaki.
The crash on October 29 sent her and one other person 100 metres down a steep hill about 4am, where she remained for two hours with serious injuries until emergency response could locate her.
‘‘They said she was in stable condition,’’ mother Anne Loukas said.
‘‘But by the time I got home, the neurosurgeon talking to my husband said she didn’t make it.’’
Father Gus Loukas rushed to New Zealand where he later video called a group of heartbroken family and friends, which included Angelika’s mother, 19-year-old sister Athena, 22-year-old brother Theodore, and a few close friends.
‘‘She wanted to be an organ donor,’’ Anne said.
‘‘So while she was laying in bed at the hospital, we all said our goodbyes.’’
Angelika, who is affectionately known as ‘‘Baba’’ (Greek for ‘‘baby’’) by her family, had come to New Zealand in May, Anne said.
‘‘She always wanted to travel and she was always talking about New Zealand.’’
The 21-year-old was in her third year at the University of Ottawa, where she was studying psychology.
But she took a break from school to live with a Whanganui family and work as an au pair.
‘‘She loved the boys and the mum was like her best friend,’’ Anne said.
Angelika bonded with the young boys, Louis and William Mccoll, and host parents Daniel Mccoll and Alice White loved her just as much.
The young nanny also had a special spot for animals and enjoyed feeding the lambs on the farm.
Angelika also loved people, Anne said, and enjoyed taking care of others.
‘‘People could warm up to her. She was so friendly and outgoing.
‘‘As a middle child, she would give everything she had to make other people happy.’’
Angelika was due to return home February 20.
But Saturday afternoon (Sunday morning New Zealand time), Angelika’s host family called to say there had been a crash.
Angelika was taken to Wellington Hospital while the other person was taken to Whanganui. Two days later, Angelika died. She was later cremated and brought back home to Ottawa in Ontario.
‘‘We don’t know exactly what happened,’’ Anne said.
‘‘She was a beautiful girl.’’