BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A vigil for a 16-year-old Brevard County girl who died from an amoeba infection was held Monday evening.
Federal lab results have officially shown an amoeba infection to be the cause of death of Courtney Nash.
Recommended Videos
Nash's friends marched across the Max Brewer Bridge Monday evening to try to raise money for her family and get other kids informed about killer amoebas.
Nash?s family members spoke on Monday about the loss of their 16-year-old daughter and how they are vowing to help raise awareness to keep this from happening again.
PJ Nash-Ryder, Nash?s mother, said her daughter is giving the gift of life through her death from amoebic meningoencephalitis as her organs have been donated to those in need.
The family members, including Nash?s uncle, a paramedic, said he never thought Nash would get an amoebic infection, especially because the family has been swimming in the tributary of the St. John's River for generations and nothing has happened.
"When they said amoeba, not in my wildest mind had it crossed my mind it would be an amoeba," said Nash?s uncle.
Experts said most amoeba infections happen in stagnant water that is heated up during the summer, but the potential is lurking in most places people swim.
"Any exposure to the fresh water can potentially become infected with it. If the river is flowing more rapidly, then it's probably going to be less likely than compared to stagnant water," Barry Inman of the Brevard County Health Department said.
Nash's death has motivated her family to push for an awareness campaign that would warn swimmers about the amoeba danger.
"If we can save other people's lives and they don't have to go through what I went through, I just think this would be a blessing in disguise," Nash-Ryder said.