Through the pain, Sara Yara's loved ones are remembering her as a kind girl with a big heart.
"Always giving even if she had little to no money," said her sister Phoebe Yara. "She was always there to talk to and I kind of just miss her presence."
Dozens of people showed up to remember a loving and generous teenage girl -- gone too soon.
"Whoever's birthday it was she always wanted to buy something even if it was small. Just the thought to her counted," Saniatan added. "That's the kind of heart she had and that's the heart they took away from me."
Sara was looking forward to graduating from McKinley High School and going to college on the mainland.
"Usually we ride the bus everyday to school, and we walk across the street with her. She's always there next to us," said Gage Cisneros, Sara's friend since middle school. "Now that she's not it's kind of hard for us so we miss her being around."
Still, family and friends say, they're grateful for the short time they had with her.
"Just knowing she's no longer in pain and I had her for a long time," Phoebe said. "I feel thankful for having her."
Kristen joined KITV4 in March 2021 after working for the past two decades as a newspaper reporter. Kristen's goal is to produce meaningful journalism that educates, enlightens and inspires to affect positive change in society.
