'Our circle was broken losing Jaimie': family remember Blenheim teen

The family of Jaimie Bonnell is remembering her as caring and thoughtful, with an infectious smile and contagious laugh.

The 17-year-old died in a single-vehicle crash outside Blenheim Thursday with her funeral held Monday evening.

Jaimie was the youngest of four sisters. Her three older siblings and her parents, sticking together through their grief.

"Our circle was broken, losing Jaimie," said dad Dave Bonnell.

"Now we know that we have to just bond a little bit tighter to get that circle back together."

"It’s been hard," said dad Dave Bonnell.

"We know that Jaimie wouldn’t want us to be apart," said dad Dave Bonnell. She’d want us to be together."

The family said the day after the crash was a blur, but that it also saw a tidal wave of support from the community come their way.

"That’s when we really started to feel the love and support," Jaimie’s eldest sister Devynn Deacon said.

"We really see the impact she had not only on family and friends but the whole community."

Jaimie just turned 17 on November 2.

A student at Blenheim District High School, she was completing a co-op placement at Harwich Raleigh Public School in hopes of working as a child and youth worker in the future.

She was a talented athlete, playing basketball, volleyball and rugby.

On top of that: she held down a part-time job at Tim Hortons.

Deacon said she spent what bits of spare time she had socializing – or caring for animals.

"She just recently rescued a baby kitten on her way home from work one day," she said.

Her father said he talked her into competing in the 2023 Blenheim Youth Centre Survivor Challenge – which they won.

"She was my little sidekick," he says.

The family asks anyone looking to honour Jaimie’s memory to consider a donation to the Blenheim Youth Centre.