R.I.P

5:23 AM

Readers, I have some sad and hard news to tell you all. Our beloved gym fan and fellow blogger Keisha Del Santo left this world after taking her own life last week. Many people were not privy to the fact that she had been suffering from depression for the last three years. It didn't stop her though from bringing us some news and her views of one of the things she kept as a constant through the last three years and I can assure you all that the decision she made to leave this world was not one she made easily.

Keisha Elizabeth-Liliana Del Santo was born on the 4th January, 1990 to parents Lucy and Manuel, who divorced five years ago, remarrying to Nathan and Penelope respectively. She has two sisters Miranda (24), Nicola (22) and Tania (18), and a brother Ricardo (16). Born in the South West corner of Western Australia, her parents moved the children around as a result of their teaching and police careers, with Keisha and her siblings having lived all around Australia, from the top of WA to the lowest point in Tasmania. A year ago her mother received a position in a remote community in the state's east, meaning that her brother and parents did not get to spend much time as they would have liked to and I know that they are all regretting this decision at this point in time and I know that it wasn't their faults.... we all thought she was improving and she was back to her bubbly and smiling persona. You enrolled her into kindy gym when she was just two years old as a way to improve her balance and challenge some of that bubbliness... she got it from you Mrs Del Santo - that go and get it attitude. She was determined over the last couple of months to master some of the gymnastics skills that most people would only dream on - mostly an amanar. Keish, we will never know if you achieved your dreams in this life, but I can only imagine that you will be trying to and will succeed in your new life.

When you asked me to join the then ChimGym named blog I was beside myself, as I had the pleasure of training alongside of you for the last year and competed against you for a number of a years before that. I always managed to come out on top though and man she was so jealous!!! I could tell you so much about her.... The insane taste in music Kei had: Linda Strawberry, Mars Volta, Rammstein, Hawthorne Heights, Saosin, From Autumn to Ashes, Muse, and so many more. Her love of Bryce Courtenay books and her recent conversion to the land of Jodi Piccoult. The obssession she had with the OC , The Hills and most recently Jersey Shore. I admit that I have never watched an episode of the latter, but whether we watched it or not Keisha kept us up to date with it all. I never once see her not smile, and it was a beautiful, honest and truthful smile. When she had a bad day in training or competition she would just shrug it off and say that there is always next time. She always said that you should live everyday as though it is your last, and that is exactly what you did. Keisha made me an administrator of this blog, something which mystified me when she did. I always considered her the boss and we had many things we wanted to do and change with the blog and it is something I will definitely do over the coming months and I dedicate this blog and the pending changes to you Keisha, I know you'll be reading it from the sky.

REST IN PEACE,
KEISHA ELIZABETH-LILIANA DEL SANTO
4/1/1990 - 31/5/2010
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal,
love leaves a memory no one can steal"

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