'She was Auntie K.': Kayla Ferguson believed to be youngest victim of Ottawa explosion
Nearly a week after a devastating explosion shook the capital and took the lives of six people, the families of the victims are still looking for answers.
“I just keep asking why, and how?” Maria Ferguson, the cousin of 26-year-old Kayla Ferguson, said.
A welder, Kayla Ferguson is believed to the be youngest victim of the blast, and the only woman, but to her family and friends, Kayla was always one of the guys.
“She loved being with men and she could do everything a man could do, if not better,” Maria said.
Ferguson was a boxer, a powerlifter and a hunter.
“She was quiet, she was reserved. She was an old soul in a young body,” Maria continued.
Gentle and soft-spoken, Ferguson loved the outdoors, either behind the handlebars of an ATV in the mud, or skipping across fresh snow in a Ski-Doo.
“She would be jumping up and down and just so happy that there was snow on the ground so she could get out on her Ski-Doo,” Maria continued. “She’d be out ripping this weekend.”
A daughter and sister, Kayla was also the godmother to Maria’s three boys.
“She was Auntie K. From the minute they were born, she was there; once a week, every holiday, she would come and steal them from me and take them for nights and sleepovers and take them four-wheeling,” Maria said.
The middle child in a family of five, Ferguson’s death is shaking her family.
“You don’t expect things like that and you don’t think it’s ever going to happen to you. She was the rock for a lot of people, she was definitely my personal journal, so it’s really hard,” Maria said.
On the fence outside Eastway Tank a small bouquet of flowers holds a picture of Kayla, dressed in full camouflage and smiling in the woods. It’s those moments that make her loss a little easier for her family.
“You know, she always lived her life to the fullest and she was happy when she went and she didn’t leave any stone left unturned that she wanted to turn. And I think that makes it a little bit easier,” Maria said.
“She was living her dream and she was happy,” she added.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.