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Drowned teen was Lakewood studentBy NATALIE BAUGHMAN © St. Petersburg Times, published October 3, 2000 ST. PETE BEACH -- After a day at the beach Saturday, Kim Nhon called out to the six children who had accompanied her, saying their names loudly, one by one. Four of the children came without hesitation. But not the two others. Anh Loan Ly, 15, was drowning. Seconds earlier, a wave pushed her and her cousin, Vu Nhon, under water. Vu Nhon came to the surface for a breath. Ly also floated to the top; but her head was down, and she had inhaled water. She was not a strong swimmer. Paramedics performed CPR, but Ly died early Sunday at All Children's Hospital, where she had been transferred late Saturday night. Her family won't soon forget her kindness. She cared for her brothers and sisters every day after school while her mother, Mai, worked at Jabil Circuit Co. She played with them, read to them, helped them with their homework and never once mentioned she would rather spend time with her friends. "Her family was really important to her," said Kim Kien, a family friend. "She was a mother, sister and teacher to them all the time." Ly moved to St. Petersburg in November 1999 from Tra Vinh, Vietnam, with her mother, two brothers and two sisters. They came to the United States to join other family members, some of whom had been in the country since 1985. Ly and her family lived with her aunt and uncle, Tri and Kim Nhon, at 5319 13th Ave. N. Family members gathered around a glass coffee table Monday afternoon and flipped through a scrapbook Ly had made at Lakewood High School, where she was a sophomore enrolled in the English for Speakers of Other Languages program. The book contained pictures of Ly in Vietnam and the United States. Writing samples expressed her love for her country and her acceptance of her new life. "The biggest change in my life was when I left Vietnam," Ly wrote. "Life in the United States has been good to me. I was able to make new friends and adjust to a culture that is very different from the one I had before."
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