Celebration of life planned for 14-year-old N.S. flood victim who 'saw the good in everything'

Terri-Lynn Keddy is pictured in an undated photo taken at West Hants Middle School. (Arbor Memorial)

A celebration of life will be held Saturday for the 14-year-old girl who “saw the good in everything” and died during last month’s torrential flooding in Nova Scotia.

Terri-Lynn Keddy was one of four who died when two vehicles were swept by water into a flooded field while evacuating. She will be honoured at the ceremony in Brooklyn N.S., this weekend.

Keddy is described in her obituary as someone who always had a smile on her face and hoped to work with children when she grew up. She had plans to start babysitting in the near future.

She loved music, and was often found singing, dancing and “helping out in the kitchen with her step-mom or enjoying laughs with her siblings,” reads the obituary.

“The bond they shared will never be broken.”

The other flood victims are Colton Sisco and Natalie Harnish, both six, and 52-year-old Nicholas Holland.

Storms on July 22 brought as much as 250 millimetres of rain to some parts of the province, which caused widespread damage and flooding.

The bodies of the two children and Holland were found and identified in late July.

Keddy’s body was found last week along the shore in Advocate Harbour, N.S., on the Bay of Fundy after being carried nearly 100 kilometres by floodwaters and tides.

The 14-year-old's obituary says those in attendance at the ceremony are invited to dress casually and wear Terri-Lynn’s favourite colours: pink and purple, or to wear the colours of the rainbow.

In the obituary Keddy is described as a “recent N1F1 survivor,” which is the short form of neurofibromatosis, type 1. This illness is a genetic condition that causes tumours to grow along nerves.

“Terri-Lynn would not want tears of sorrow shed for her but to remember and celebrate the way she lived life everyday,” reads the obituary.

The obituary says that donations in memory of Keddy can be made to the IWK Foundation.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.