A brave young woman who defied all the odds

Brother Luke Gibb-Kimber, father Mark Kimber and mother Pauline Gibb say they have only fond memories of Jesse.

A brave young Tauranga woman who was not expected to make it to her fifth birthday has died aged 21 - and remained positive until the end.

Jesse Gibb-Kimber, who died in Auckland Hospital on Sunday, was born with a congenital heart defect, required a constant oxygen supply and needed a wheelchair to get around but never let that slow her down.

"Her illness didn't get her down. She was always positive and just a happy- go-lucky little girl," mother Pauline Gibb told the Bay of Plenty Times.

"She was amazing - lots of courage and strength and smiles."

Friends and family filled the lounge yesterday and a hot pink casket leaned against the wall surrounded by flowers and paintings of the young woman's favourite sayings. Her electric wheelchair sat in the corner.

Family friend Antonia McLaughlin said Jesse's optimistic attitude was an inspiration to many people.

"She was a very courageous young woman who faced so many battles."

Jesse Gibb-Kimber.

Jesse, pictured left, was diagnosed with a condition called atrial septal defect when she was 15-months-old. It enabled oxygen-rich blood from one side of the heart to mix with the oxygen-poor blood on the other and cause low oxygen levels throughout the body. She also had pulmonary hypertension.

Her family had been told many times throughout her life to expect the worst but she defied the odds. Her death came suddenly and the family were struggling to adjust to their unusually quiet home.

"It's horrible quiet. Her machine used to make noise so we just had noise from the machine. We came home Sunday and the house was just silent. Every time I enter it's just too quiet because we're just so used to hearing her machine running," Ms Gibb said.

Brother Luke Gibb-Kimber, 24, got to see his sister's mischievous side more than most. "She was my best mate, pretty much," he said. "Everyone thinks that she was a goody good but you'd take her out and she was the worst."

He smiled as he recalled her doing burnouts in the family car while he was teaching her to drive and finally told his mother about the time she crashed the car into a ditch. The most vivid memory of his sister was at the Hamilton Zoo. "Her cousin let her go at the top of the hill in her wheelchair. I had no idea and then halfway down I hear Mum yelling, 'Hey, get her'. She almost went into the hippo pond. She just stopped before it," he said. "She had a big smile. She liked being on the edge."

The medication Jesse was on often left her with little appetite but did not dampen her spirits.

"One day she was really sick and her Poppa Gibbs said, 'I've got a pie here. If you eat the pie, I'll give you $100'. So she ate the pie and got the $100 and went out and got turtles out of it."

Jesse loved animals and owned birds, cats, dogs, turtles and even an axolotl at one point. Her chihuahua, Nugget, was donated by the Make A Wish Foundation in 2006 and the story was published at the time by the Bay News.

For most young people death is the last thing on their mind but Jesse lived her life knowing it could be just around the corner. She planned her own funeral as a teenager and updated it whenever she discovered a new song she wanted to have played.

Ms Gibb said her daughter was realistic about her situation but was never bothered by it.

"Every time you asked her, 'how are you feeling today?' it was always, 'I'm good'," she said.

Father Mark Kimber was in the midst of planning a charity motorbike auction to raise money for his daughter when she died but was now planning to donate the money to Bay of Plenty @Heart in her name.

"This is the first time she ever agreed to anything like this," he said.

Her funeral is being held at Olive Tree Cottage in Pyes Pa at 11am today.