Ayana Findlay (right) poses with her father Enroy ‘Blaze’ Findlay outside his shop

Ayana Findlay will be remembered for her smile, her brave spirit and her determination to overcome adversity.

Speaking to SEARCHLIGHT on Tuesday from his shop at Little Tokyo, Enroy ‘Blaze’ Findlay, Ayana’s father, remembers his daughter as having a determined and fighting spirit.{{more}}

Ayana, 24 years old, died at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital on March 18, after a decade-long battle with kidney disease.

“She had a good spirit and I feel that’s why so many persons spirit took her. Because in all of her pain, if a day come and you asked her to do something…whether pain or not she would try and make it possible.”

He also noted that she could “suck pain” and despite how she was feeling, she would still try to help out as best as she could.

“She had a real hard life, but she was strong behind it. Once you supported her and she saw you trying to help, she stood up,” Findlay stated.

He recalled a trip he once took with Ayana to Prospect, when after seeing a large house, she told him that is what she would like to own one day.

“Although she was sick she had great intentions; we felt one of these days she would have gotten a kidney transplant,” a sad Findlay said.

The grieving father, however, noted that the cost of the kidney transplant was the biggest obstacle they faced, but he was willing to do whatever it took to keep his daughter alive.

He recalled that when Ayana was first diagnosed, some people told him he should leave her to die.

“With me, I made up my mind, even if it cost me my house to keep her alive, I would have done it.

“Ayana was very determined and I am now seeing some of the goals that she achieved; she got around with a lot of people and she was invited to a lot of places,” he stated.

He recalls Ayana being in great spirits on the day of her surgery, even happy to show off her shaven head. “She was so joyful, she took the bald head…and snap pictures with the nurses and sent pictures for people…for them to see her bald head. She had a real joyful evening,” Findlay said smiling.

Donna Little-Findlay, Ayana’s step-mother, stated that she, like her husband, would remember Ayana for her determined spirit. “She was brave…to me she accepted it. It had times she would have been down, but she always found a way to pull herself back up.

“I would remember her as determined; she was intelligent; she liked to help people; she was encouraging…she will be missed,” Little-Findlay said.

Findlay explained that recently, after Ayana began complaining of headaches, at his suggestion, she was given a head scan and it was discovered that she had bleeding and swelling of the brain.

He explained that surgery was needed to rid the brain of the fluid that was collecting there. However after the surgery, Ayana’s condition worsened and she passed away on March 18.

Ayana was diagnosed with renal disease at the age of 14, while she was a student of the Girls’ High School. The brave young woman, who would have celebrated her 25th birthday on September 10, aspired to be an accountant.

Many persons at home and abroad rallied around Ayana’s cause and helped raise funds to pay for the cost of her dialysis treatments. In the days following her passing, many persons on popular social media site Facebook expressed their sadness at her passing.(CM)