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About 300 people gathered on Wednesday evening for a candlelight vigil in memory of Anna Bielli, the seven-year-old London girl who died when swept away by the storm-tossed River Thames earlier this month.

Participants who knew Anna well described her as “the happiest girl” – a loving, caring child who enjoyed life to the fullest and knew how to cheer people up.

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“She was full of life, full of love and full of hope,” her mother Karen Fermill said of the “special girl” who was known for her protective instincts toward her little brother and sister.

Her daughter was a talented child who enjoyed dancing, singing and acting. When a dance group was unable to perform as expected on the last day of school in June, Fermill said her daughter decided to go on stage instead and perform a song she had prepared for church.

“When she’s on stage, she looks at me and is so happy,” Fermill remembers.

For her father, Anna was a source of comfort in difficult times.

“She meant everything to me. I looked forward to her being 16, 20 and 25,” said Joseph Bielli. “Anna made every effort to just come to me and say, ‘Daddy, I love you,’ which put me in a loving mood again.”

The large crowd gathered outside Northbrae public school in northeast London, where Anna was due to start second grade in September. Among those in attendance were friends and family, teachers, school administrators and dozens of police and other emergency workers who helped with the three-day search after Anna was swept away on August 1.

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Mayor Josh Morgan spoke at the vigil, along with Police Chief Thai Truong and Northbrae Principal Tara MacDonald.

Many of those present wore pink, Anna’s favorite color.

She disappeared after walking into the river about 300 metres east of the Adelaide Street Bridge in north-east London. After a three-day search, her body was found in the river near Western University.

Several agencies were involved in the search, including the London Police Department, the Ontario Fire Department and the Ontario Provincial Police, as well as dozens of civilian volunteers.

Following the discovery, an impromptu memorial was erected on the walkway along the Adelaide Street Bridge, near where she entered the water, with balloons and stuffed animals lined up along the bridge railing.

Her father, nicknamed Princess Anna, said: “Since Anna was born, she has been the queen and princess of the whole family. She takes care of everyone.”

Her mother said of the name Anna: “I named her that because the name Anna is like an angel to me. She is certainly a very special angel now.”

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