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At age 24, Dayna Less had the world in front of her. She was engaged to her childhood sweetheart and was in first year of pharmacy residency at the Mercy Hospital and Medical Center. She was planning to return home to Indiana for Thanksgiving and to spend the holidays with her family.
"She had a wonderful life," said her father, Brian Less, on Tuesday. "She was the strongest person I knew. She was a fighter. "
At work, on Monday afternoon, her daughter took a lift and found herself stuck in a ball. An armed man shot him after fatally killing his former fiancée and a Chicago policeman. The gunman was later found dead, apparently shot in the head.
"She was marrying her childhood girlfriend and she will not be able to do it anymore," her father said during a phone interview.
She met her fiance at the camp of the church at the age of 9. They started dating at the age of 15. They were to be married in June at the Serbian Orthodox Church in Lansing, during a reception at Halls of St. George in Schererville, Ind. The family is expecting nearly 500 people, said Less.
"He is as good as they come," says less of his daughter's fiance. "He was his only real boyfriend. He made her laugh, he made her turn her head, it was fun to watch. And he is devastated. "
At a press conference in his office, Less said that his wife, a seamstress, was making their daughter's wedding dress.
Single daughter, Dayna Less was a good combination of both parents, said her father.
"Analytical, what she got from me, and artistic, that she had from her mother."
She graduated from Lake Central High School in St. John, Ind., In 2012.
Central Lake Director Sean Begley said the entire school community was devastated by the loss of his former student.
"Dayna was a great student at L.C.," said Begley in a statement. "In addition to her outstanding performance in the classroom, Dayna was a leader."
She loved to travel, she loved her church. She was fun and lively, said her father.
But in adolescence, Dayna Less began to have terrible headaches and migraine headaches that turned out to be nerves that got encrusted in her skull, said Less. The family had to go to Georgetown University in Washington, DC, for surgery. To watch her daughter go through this ordeal, to see her suffer so much, was horrible, but Less admired his strength, he said.
"I do not want to be remembered as a victim, I absolutely do not want to," Less said. "It was a girl who went through adversity, who was 15 years old to fight against major health problems … because she had a second chance and decided to give back."
The family's blog, mydaughtersheadache.com, "has helped hundreds of children find help and hope," Less said.
"She gave and gave and gave," he said. "She wanted to help people. That's all she wanted to do. Anyone who knew her loved him.
READ MORE: Gunman during an attack at Mercy Hospital had threatened to shoot the Chicago Fire Academy, officials said
The journey of Dayna Less is the result of his experience, said his father. She decided to attend Purdue University and become a pharmacist. She graduated in May at a beautiful ceremony. She was so happy, after six years of hard work, to get a pharmacy doctor, he said.
"It's an unimaginable tragedy," said Eric Barker, Dean of the Purdue College of Pharmacy, in a statement. "Today, we remembered Dayna Less as a kind, compassionate and beautiful soul who dedicated her life to helping others. It's so tragic that a young person with her life in front of her was put to an end in this insane way. "
Dr. Tamara O. Neal, deceased physician at Mercy Hospital, earned her bachelor's degree from Purdue and Purdue President, Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., said in a statement that the school was "deeply grateful and admired Agent Jimenez for his sacrificial courage. who spared other innocent lives. "
"We are proud of Tamara and Dayna for the service life they have chosen to pursue," Daniels said.
When Dayna Less spent eight weeks in a pharmacy internship in Eldoret, Kenya, her blog revealed how much the work environment was different from what she was used to and that she wanted to improve the premises where she was working on her return.
"I've never met so many people who seemed really happy at work," wrote Dayna Less. "I hope my efforts will focus on collaboration and teamwork when I start working."
According to her blog, she loved the food she ate, the people she met, and the wisdom they passed on. Getting to know patients and their families was rewarding, she wrote. But over time, the days are exhausted.
"Some days I have the impression of running all day and nothing is done," she wrote.
So when they returned home from the hospital, she and the other participants in her program started talking about "big wins" – things that they did that made a difference or a difference. positive experiences, she wrote.
"To see patients die of things that could be 100% treated in the United States is extremely disheartening," Dayna wrote. "It was very important for me to focus on the positive things we are doing here because it can be difficult to see how we are making a difference. But it's worth it when you fight for something and it really happens! While it's as little as ensuring that patients receive their medications, we do something that matters. "
And Dayna Less liked working at Mercy, Less said. She called Less every day when she quit her job.
During his press conference, Less thanked the Chicago Police Department for its response to the shooting.
"An officer gave his life to protect others," Less said. "Thank God for them."
Dayna Less was not afraid of anything – no work, no difficult topics, no talking in front of people, Less said.
On a photo published on Facebook of Dayna Less, she flies through the clouds, eyes and mouth wide open, thumbs in the air.
"My first parachute dive, but certainly not the last one!" She wrote.
"She was a wonderful person who will be sorely missed in the world," Less said.
"I've always believed in my daughter and I still believe in my daughter."
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