Sophia worked at The Nanaimo Unitarian Shelter.

She died late last year from an infection, aged 23.

With her mother’s blessing, the shelter’s Executive Director Paul Manly is sharing Sophia’s story.

In a post to the Unitarian shelter’s Facebook page titled Remembering Sophia, an open letter about the preventable loss of a community champion, Manly provided an account of Sophia’s difficulty accessing healthcare in Nanaimo, and how when she was eventually diagnosed with an infection and immunodeficiency, it was too late.

He visited the CHLY studio to remember Sophia.

Also on the program: CHLY reporter Lauryn Mackenzie gets a preview on L’Association Des Francophones de Nanaimo’s Maple Sugar Festival happening this weekend.