Friends Float Candles Down River for Katie

More than 100 people, most of them classmates, gathered at the Fenton Gazebo Tuesday night to honor their friend Katie Wyatt,

The group, which included many of Katie’s seventh and eighth grade classmates from lit candles and let them float down the Shiawassee River.

“We wanted to do something for her because she touched so many people,” said Katie’s friend and eighth-grade classmate Julia Johnson, who helped organize the nearly all-student event. “It gave us all a chance to say goodbye.”

There were many tears and hugs, but also some smiles when talking about some of Katie’s favorite things.

When the students were having trouble getting the candles to flow down the river, Julia jumped right in the river, saying, “Katie would have done it.”

“I think Katie would have thought this was the most amazing thing,” said Katie’s friend Madison Ballard, a fellow eighth-grader at AGS Middle School. “She was looking down and laughing at Julia in the water.”

While friends were sad to hear of Katie’s death, they were glad to hear she was no longer in pain.

“When I last saw her, she was gasping for breath. It was horrible,” Julia said. “She doesn’t have to suffer anymore. We know she is looking down over us.”

“She’s my best friend, so it’s painful,” said AGS eighth-grader Erin Fuller. “She always laughed away the pain though. She had a big impact on my life. She died a hero.”

The group gave the “I love you” sign as the last candle that floated the river, which was a heart candle that was lit by Katie’s older sister Amanda Moreno, of Fenton.

“It’s hard,” Moreno said in tears. “But know she’s able to rest and be a kid and be happy. No more pain and suffering.”