Cancer-Stricken Designer Passes Away One Month After SL's Fashion Community Raises Over $12K For Her Care

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

Last July, friends of popular Second Life designer Squinternet Larnia started a fundraiser to help support her cost of living with terminal bone cancer. She was no longer able to work, and her dwindling finances meant that she couldn't afford the care she needed just to spend her remaining time in comfort. Even as event organization got under way things looked very bleak, and plans were made for the proceeds of the event in case Squinternet herself didn't live to see it through. But she did. The fundraiser ended after raising $12,619.45 for her care and comfort in the final days of her life. Just as importantly, she saw a phenomenal and inspiring turnout of generous friends and strangers who came out and offered their support.

Sadly, in spite of strides she was making in treatment, the designer who moved so many of us passed on September 4th. But like so many before her, the story of the second life of Squinternet Larnia doesn't end there.

The Love Donna Flora event blog is a ongoing testament to the impact she had on the lives of others through Second Life. You can find stories, galleries, poems, and even songs that Squinternet herself (Giulia Pelos IRL) recorded in the spring, after she'd learned that her cancer (which she had been fighting for some time) was no longer in remission. The site is a shared celebration of her life, both on and offline, that everyone can contribute to.

Plans are also in the works for a more enduring virtual monument, and the minds behind Love Donna Flora have opened the floor up to ideas from everyone who knew or admired Squinternet. I've seen quite a few great ideas floating around so far, including a memorial garden or a homestead sim in her honor. Whatever the final selection is, it's safe to say she would love it.

You can contact Gidge Uriza in Second Life, on Plurk, or in the comments of the Love Donna Flora site with your own suggestions for the monument, and contribute your memories and stories there as well.

(Picture from Love Donna Flora)

Please share this post with people you like:

Tweet

Iris Ophelia (@bleatingheart, Janine Hawkins IRL) has been featured in the New York Times and has spoken about SL-based design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan and with pop culture/fashion maven Johanna Blakley.

Comments

[Savoree LeDesir]

What a wonderful testament that she was able to inspire goodness in people in both life and death. I didn't have the opportunity to meet her, but I do have a pair of her shoes, which now have a very special meaning.

[Tracy RedAngel]

Donna Flora was my first introduction to jewelry in Second Life. I have several of her treasures. I hope plans have been made to keep her store going so others may continue to enjoy her beautiful creations.