Dubai: She lost her father several years ago. Her two siblings died at birth. Now her mother is mourning again.
Fiona Mendonca, 16, a grade 9 pupil of the St Mary's Catholic School died on Saturday due to a heart illness. Her sudden death has left her family and friends, especially her best friend in a state of denial.
"We have been friends since grade 2. It has not registered that Fiona is not going to be at my side at school," said Crystal Mascarenhas.
Crystal said destiny brought them together. "I too suffer from a heart problem. It is our illness that bonded us together," she said.
A bubbly teenager whose favourite colour was lavender and who loved animals is how her school friends and family described Fiona as they gathered at Saint Mary's Catholic Church to bid adieu at her funeral on Monday.
The last time Crystal saw Fiona was in March before she travelled to India to undergo heart surgery.
"Before she left for India she told me that she would have the surgery and come back soon and that everything would be all right. She never showed her weakness to anyone. She kept a strong and optimistic attitude towards life. But in my last telephone conversation with her in early May Fiona sounded in pain and was sad. She wanted to return to school to be with her friends," said Crystal, who believes that her best friend has gone to a better place.
Fiona's school mates came in large numbers to pay their last respects as her body lay in the church. Some broke down in tears as her coffin was taken by ambulance to her final resting place in Jebel Ali. It was in this very church that Fiona received her First Holy Communion.
Fiona's aunt, a Dubai resident said her niece was a fussy eater and was supposed to visit her this week.
"She never came. Her heart problem was congenital. She had two heart valves replaced on April 7 at the Madras Medical Mission in India. She celebrated her sixteenth birthday on April 23 and on May 2 she returned to the UAE," she said, fighting back her tears.
"I met her last Friday and asked her to come and visit. I told her I would cook egg fried rice for her. She hated eggs. Her heart problem never allowed her to even climb the stairs to my apartment which is located on the second floor. My building does not have an elevator. She used to be a bit scared of me because I am little tough but she knew that I loved her. She was my strong girl," she added.
Fiona's cousins Stephene and Geraldine who flew in from Canada called her their little girl who blossomed into a strong bubbly girl.
"She loved animals. If she had her way she would have started a small zoo in her house. She was with us during her first six years as we used to live in Dubai and then moved to Canada," said Stephene.
"We used to keep in touch with her over the telephone and via e-mails. She wanted to be a vet," added Geraldine.
