Photo: Darcy Costello/AP/Shutterstock
Aoife Beary, one of the survivors of thebalcony collapsethat killed six other people in Berkeley, California, six years ago has died. She was 27.
Beary died “peacefully” on Saturday in her native Dublin “after a brave battle with her injuries sustained in the Berkeley balcony collapse in California,” according toher death notice.
Beary died at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin after suffering a stroke on Wednesday, theIrish Timesreports.
Beary was among a group of Irish exchange students who were visiting the University of California, Berkeley, when they were involved in the tragic accident on June 16, 2015.
The group was celebrating Beary’s 21st birthday party at an apartment complex near campus when the balcony gave way, sending the students plummeting 40 feet to the sidewalk below, according toThe New York Times.
The collapse killed five Irish students and one American. Seven others, including Beary, sustained severe injuries.
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Beary is the seventh student to die from the collapse. She was left with a severe brain injury and underwent open-heart surgery as a result of the incident, theIrish Timesreports.
In the years since the tragedy, Beary had advocated for greater transparency regarding building code violations in California. In 2016, she testified before the state legislature about her experience, theNYTreports.
“I miss my friends so much,” she told the California lawmakers, per theSan Francisco Chronicle. “I had known them since we started school together at four years of age. We had grown up together. And now my birthday will always be their anniversary.”
Beary graduated from University College Dublin with a degree in pharmacology. Upon the news of her death, her alma materextended its condolences.
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“I know Aoife’s passing will rekindle memories of the six students who died in the Berkeley accident in June 2015 and our thoughts are with their families too,” the statement concluded.
source: people.com
