A beloved professional chef from San Diego was killed in a freak accident while hiking with her boyfriend.
The up-and-coming pastry chef, 26-year-old Gianna Buzzetta, was crushed by a falling boulder while visiting a picturesque waterfall in Hawaii on March 23.
"They heard a really loud noise. He looked up, but couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from. Within a second, it happened … The rock dislodged from quite a ways up … then it landed on her," Gianna's father Sal Buzzetta told 10 News.
It had been Buzzetta's dream to see Makaleha Falls. While taking in the breathtaking view, Buzzetta was suddenly struck by a rock and fell unconscious.
Her boyfriend, 23-year-old Connor Quinton, had scrambled to save her, but he had to run three miles to get help, as there was no phone service in the remote area.
Unfortunately, it was too late to save her. Buzzetta was airlifted to a hospital, where she died.
"She had told her boyfriend, Connor, that day, he had fulfilled her dreams and it was the best day of her life," Caty Buzzetta, Gianna's mother, told ABC affiliate KGTV.
Buzzetta's parents were able to fly to Kauai to say goodbye to their daughter before she passed.
Buzzetta's tragic death has left an impact on the Michelin-rated Jeune et Jolie restaurant near San Diego, where she was making a name for herself as a professional pastry chef.
In honor of Buzzetta, the restaurant is donating proceeds from the evening of April 7 to help pay her family's medical expenses.
"Gianna was our former Pastry Chef, and our friend. She brought such joy, intensity, passion and love to this restaurant and to our team. Her sudden loss leaves all of us heartbroken, and searching for ways to be of help to her family," the restaurant wrote in an Instagram tribute.
"And so, we are doing the one thing we know how to do. We are coming together as a restaurant, and welcoming guests in to celebrate the relationships that give our lives meaning."
The family has also set up an online fundraiser that has collected $40,000 out of its $225,000 goal. Despite the tragic circumstances of her death, Buzzetta's family is glad that she died doing what she loved.
"She was in nature. That was her element. She was with the love of her life," Caty said. "In a glimpse of time, she had pure bliss, no one could take that form [sic] her or us."
