A former beauty queen has died in a freak lightning strike after she was hit as she combed her niece's hair. Ana Beatriz Araújo Ferreira, 22, was struck by lightning during a family lunch on Saturday in the back garden of her mother's home in Almas in Tocantins State, Brazil.
The physiotherapy student was taken to hospital alive but succumbed to her injuries later that day. Her sister, Lana Letícia, said the garden had several trees and a small area at the back with a wash tub. Ana had just bathed her five-year-old son, Luiz Henrique, and sent him inside.
Family describes the moment of tragedy
She stayed outside to bathe her brother's daughter. "She was combing my niece's hair when the bolt hit," Lana said. Her brother, César Augusto, said the tragedy happened in a split second. "The day was cloudy, with a very calm drizzle," he added.
Ana, who was also known as Aninha, had been crowned Queen of the Rodeo at the town's ExpoAlmas Fair. She was studying physiotherapy at the Norte do Paraná University and had only just started her first term.
Tributes to a devoted mother
Her godmother, Marcella Batista, said: "She was a model mother, careful. She was extremely family orientated. She always came to spend weekends with her mother, looked after her sisters, did their hair and cooked nice food."
César said she was the family's "rock". He added: "Aninha is and was one of the most beautiful people I have known in my life."
She leaves behind her son, her parents and six half-siblings on her mother's side. A wake was held on Sunday at the family home, and she was buried on Monday morning at the town cemetery. Police in Almas are investigating the death.
