Emily Chaplin, the 10-year-old St. Albert girl killed last week in a boating accident in Kelowna last week, was the youngest in a family of five children.
Her father, Terry Chaplin, said she and her four older brothers were a tight-knit bunch.
“She lived for her older brothers. It’s been very tough.”
The family held a celebration of Emily’s life Tuesday on the Okanagan Lake in Kelowna. Emily’s ashes and 1,000 roses were spread across the water.
“I rented the biggest house boat on the Okanagan … We will have her ashes returned to the lake,” he said. “She truly put a smile on everybody’s face.”
Emily would have started Grade 5 this week. She had hobbies outside of school including baseball, Girl Guides and volunteering.
“She loved animals. She went to the SPCA every few weeks to see the animals and walk them,” her father said.
Emily died from injuries she suffered in a boating accident on Okanagan Lake. She was a passenger on a Yamaha Waverunner personal watercraft, operated by her 18-year-old brother, that collided with a 20-foot boat about one kilometre from the shore Friday at around 8 p.m.
The boat’s driver had turned to check on a different watercraft when the crash occurred.
“It was unnecessary, but it was an accident,” her father said.
Chaplin said the family brought their 18-year-old son Jarett, who was driving the Waverunner, home Monday from the hospital.
“He is in a wheelchair. He has a broken hand, broken leg. He’s lucky to be alive.”
Seventy or 80 people were expected to attend the memorial in Kelowna. The family will also hold a service for Emily in St. Albert next Thursday.
“We do need to go forward,” her dad said. “That’s the way she would have wanted it.”
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