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Hundreds of people gathered in a LaSalle park Tuesday evening to remember a three-year-old girl who died after a tragic bouncy castle accident last week.
Flowers, stuffed animals and handwritten notes were laid in Ouellette Park as mourners paid tribute to Ava Ciampini, who was critically injured in a May 31 incident when strong winds swept the bouncy castle she was playing in into the air during a community event. She later died.
Just one day before tragedy struck, young Ava Ciampini was celebrating her third birthday with dozens of family and friends at her father’s Montreal-area business.
Sylvain Trudeau/Global News
Witnesses have said strong winds, reaching up to 50 kilometres an hour, lifted the inflatable structure dozens of feet into the air before it came crashing back down.
Eleven people were injured in the incident, including six who were taken to hospital. Two of those hurt were children.
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Ava’s death has shaken the community, with residents gathering Tuesday to support her family and share memories of the toddler.
“It’s very important … for all of us,” one attendee said at the vigil.
As family and friends struggled to process the loss, support began pouring in from across the country. A GoFundMe launched by Luca’s best friend and business partner, Stefano Giliati, has raised nearly half a million dollars.
Sylvain Trudeau/Global News
In the days since her death, Ava’s family says her organs were donated, helping to save four other lives.
“She was just so special to us and everybody that crossed paths with her,” her father, Luca Ciampini, told Global News earlier this week. “She just had so much character, so much spunk. She was really the light and joy of every day.”
Her father has described the donation as her final act and her greatest superpower.
