Balloon disaster: Former Rotorua woman killed | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

 "Be the voice for those that don't have one."

For some just a quote but for Alexis Still it was a Bible psalm to live by.

It's written on a wee blackboard made for the 19-year-old former Rotorua woman by boyfriend Chrisjan Jordaan; a poignant reminder of a special young couple who perished when the hot air balloon they were aboard caught fire and plummeted to the ground in Carterton on Saturday, killing all 11 on board.

Chrisjan had bought the balloon ticket for Alexis last year. They had tried to go twice previously but those flights were postponed due to poor weather so were hugely excited when the weather forecast for Saturday was good.

Alexis lived at home in Wellington with parents Vivienne and Allan Still and sister Emma, 24, while brother Ben, 22, flats in Wellington. Elderly dog Abby is very much a part of the family and knows something's amiss - she spent Saturday night sleeping in Alexis's wardrobe.

Mrs Still said she heard her "dream" daughter get up early on Saturday and later texted her telling her to have fun.

"I should have got up and given her a cuddle because I was awake. I was just excited for her," she told APNZ.

Mr Still said Chrisjan spoiled his daughter, and the family is comforted by the fact they died together.

"I couldn't imagine if one of them lost the other one," Emma said.

"They were really, really tight," Mrs Still added.

"He won her heart, which was really hard because she had a lot of boys after her but she just said 'no, I don't have time for that'.

"All the boys who came around last night [Saturday] said they had crushes on her."

The family is hugely proud of a daughter who touched many people in many ways; at just 19, she had counselled younger children, was involved in her church's youth group, had been on a mission to Africa and was saving to visit orphanages in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Alexis met Chrisjan, originally from South Africa, through the Arise Church and he also went on the mission - although they did not become a couple until after returning to Wellington.

Last year she studied nursing and journalism at Massey University, and planned to eventually nurse in third world countries and write about her experiences.

The 2010 mission involved going to Malawi and Mozambique, visiting a village World Vision was pulling out of after achieving its aims there and another where it was about to set up.

"She got to go and interview them there to see what it was like for them and what they needed, so she sort of got a comparison of whether World Vision had fulfilled all the things that they wanted - not just pushed anything on them but listened to them," Mrs Still said.

"She loved the kids. She went to an orphanage there (in Africa), too, and helped there for a while."

The Still family has had World Vision sponsor children for years but that was not enough for Alexis - she wanted to do more so sponsored a child herself.

That little boy, Precious, had just sent her a picture he had drawn.

"The last night we were together, she was so excited about the picture he had sent her and said he was going to be such an artist. She was so excited about him," Mrs Still said.

Her mother described her as an "extraordinary young lady" from the beginning, when she was born in Dunedin.

The family moved to Rotorua when she was a baby before moving to Wellington four years ago.

Alexis attended three high schools - Iona College in Hawke's Bay, Rotorua Lakes High School in Rotorua and Onslow College in Wellington. So many moves as a teenager would overwhelm some but Alexis simply gathered friends as she went, some of whom visited the family home on Saturday night.

"They were saying that she was just an extraordinary person and they said she was a star of their school and she was only there for a short time," Mrs Still said.

"Everybody just took notice of her straight away. She was a natural leader, and encouraging.

"She's got friends everywhere, all over the world."

The Stills say Alexis was a dream daughter and that they were blessed to have her.

"We were just given such a gift."

-APNZ