A beauty queen has died after a lightning bolt struck her in the garden as she combed her niece’s hair.
Ana Beatriz Araújo Ferreira was taken to hospital alive, but succumbed to her injuries later that day.
The strike happened during a family lunch on Saturday (3 Oct).
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She was in the back garden of her mother’s home in Almas in Tocantins State, Brazil, when the bolt struck.
Her sister, Lana Letícia, said the garden had several trees and a small area at the back with a wash tub.
Ana had just bathed her five-year-old son, Luiz Henrique, and sent him inside.
She stayed outside to bathe her brother’s daughter.
“She was combing my niece’s hair when the bolt hit,” Lana said.
Her brother, César Augusto, said the tragedy happened in a split second.
“The day was cloudy, with a very calm drizzle,” he added.
Ana, who was also known as Aninha, was studying physiotherapy at the Norte do Paraná University and had only just started her first term.
Her godmother, Marcella Batista, called her joyful, full of dreams and devoted to her relatives.
“She was a model mother, careful. She was extremely family orientated,” Marcella said.
“She always came to spend weekends with her mother, looked after her sisters, did their hair and cooked nice food.”
César said she was the family’s “rock”.
“Aninha is and was one of the most beautiful people I have known in my life,” he said.
She had been crowned Queen of the Rodeo at the town’s ExpoAlmas Fair.
The Almas Rural Union said she represented the event with joy and love for local tradition.
“Her departure leaves immense sadness in everyone who had the privilege of knowing her,” the union said.
She leaves behind her son, her parents and six half-siblings on her mother’s side, as reported by Need To Know.
A wake was held on Sunday at the family home.
She was buried on Monday morning at the town cemetery.
The 100th police station in Almas is investigating the death.
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