By Stephanie Ip, Postmedia News
SURREY — Life looked promising for 19-year-old Bhavkiran Dhesi.
After recovering from a kidney transplant earlier this year, Dhesi was finally able to consider far-off destinations and other travel plans. She had recently gone back to working out at a gym and was determined to get healthy after so many years of being in and out of hospitals.
Despite missing classes every other day due to dialysis, she was on track to completing a degree in criminology and graduating from Kwantlen Polytechnic University with her friends.
“She was very excited to finally be able to travel and live a normal life,” said a friend of Dhesi’s, who asked not to be named due to concerns about safety.
“She had so many aspirations and dreams which were all taken away from her that night.”
The 19-year-old Surrey woman, known to friends and family as Kiran, was last seen Tuesday evening (Aug. 1) when she left home to have dinner with friends.
Just three hours later, her body was found inside a vehicle that had been on fire in South Surrey. Homicide investigators have said the death is not random and that it is not gang-related.
READ MORE: Surrey teenager identified as victim in torched-SUV homicide, from Aug. 3
Dhesi’s uncle Kulvant Dhesi also spoke to Global News on Friday, saying the family is “devastated” by Dhesi’s death.
“There’s nothing else we can do for Kiran,” he told Global. “But at least we can stop it from happening to someone else’s child.”
On Thursday, the Kwantlen Student Association also released a statement on Dhesi’s death.
“It is with great anger that we condemn the violence surrounding her death,” the statement read. “On behalf of the Kwantlen Student Association and the KPU community, we offer our sincere condolences to Kiran’s family and friends.”
Dhesi, who grew up in Surrey, had been undergoing dialysis since Grade 9 and had been waiting years for the kidney transplant. She finally received a transplant earlier this year and had recovered, according to her friend.
“Her mother spent every other day at dialysis with Kiran for six hours a day. They were very close and it’s a crushing blow to her mother to lose her child after she had finally begun her road to recovery,” said Dhesi’s friend.
The young woman was also a “huge shopper” and had a keen eye for style and makeup, often sharing fashion advice with friends.
“Kiran was a loving person who did no harm to anyone. She would always be there for her friends and family whenever they needed her,” said the friend.
“Whoever did this to Kiran deserves to have the harshest punishment possible for taking away the life of such an amazing woman.”
CLICK HERE to read more stories in the Vancouver Sun