"She Dropped Everything To Travel," Said Friend Of Girl Who Died In A Bungee Jumping Accident

    "She taught me how to dream," a close friend told BuzzFeed News. "She followed her dreams. She told me to follow mine."

    Laura Silver
    by Laura Silver

    BuzzFeed News Reporter, UK

    Friends and family have been paying tribute to 23-year-old Kleyo De Abreu after she died in a bungee jumping accident in Spain on Tuesday.

    Facebook / Via Facebook: kleyo.deabreu

    British-born De Abreu had moved to South Africa but was living in Brixton while studying fashion.

    She died in Lanjaron, Granada, when she bungee jumped from the Tablate bridge and hit an old stone bridge beneath it, the BBC reported.

    A spokesperson for the Guardia Civil in Granada confirmed to the Press Association that her aunt, whom she was visiting in the area, was present at the time of the incident.

    He said "one of the lines of inquiry is that there was a miscalculation with the rope", but that it was "too early to draw any conclusions about the circumstances of the death".

    Close friend Siki Msuseni told BuzzFeed News that De Abreu "taught me how to dream. She followed her dreams. She told me to follow mine."

    In an email, Msuseni said:

    Today I lost a friend. A woman mature for her age, Kleyo was calm. She kept me sane when I would hyperventilate over life issues. Kleyo had a good heart and never wished ill upon anyone. She was effortlessly beautiful.

    She taught me how to dream. She followed her dreams. She told me to follow mine. She loved carelessly. She dropped everything to travel.

    She was my style icon, her collection of vintage gems was amazing. Kleyo was flawlessly beautiful and her good heart made her even more beautiful.

    I'm pained by Kleyo's death but at peace that she fulfilled most of her dreams especially being reunited with her father, she also left interior design to follow her true passion, the fashion industry. I was scheduled to go to Europe in the winter to see her and her family but now she is gone, and I am hurt.

    Msuseni spoke of De Abreu's closeness to her mother, who she said is devastated by the loss:

    I am so sad but during these trying times I think of her mother whom she lived with here in Cape Town. Kleyo was her mother's EVERYTHING, they were clockwork and loved each other so much. They had a very solid bond and I can imagine how devastated her mother is.

    I will miss our late nights as interior design students, our lunch dates, our endless thread messages of life dramas on Facebook and WhatsApp.

    She leaves behind her family and friends also a very loving boyfriend.

    I will forever miss Kleyo.

    Siki Msuseni @SikiMsuseni

    Try going to bed with a brokwn heart like mine. Shattered into pieces. Numb from pain. Kleyo is gone.

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    De Abreu's father, Bernard Atwell, yesterday described her as "sweet, caring, bubbly and focused".

    Facebook / Via Facebook: kleyo.deabreu

    Speaking to the Press Association he said that "every father will say this but she was very special, she was a very beautiful young woman who had all her life ahead of her".

    He said he "would very much like to make sure this doesn't happen again to anybody else".

    He added that "my daughter is gone and nothing is going to bring her back, but I have spoken to the family and we are all on the same page – we don't want something like this to happen again".

    Facebook / Via Facebook: kleyo.deabreu

    The 80-metre drop from Tablate bridge is a much-used bungee-jumping spot that is particularly popular with thrill-seekers due to the closeness of ravine walls.

    "My primary concern is for people when they are just having fun," Atwell said.

    A Facebook group, RIP Kleyo De Abreu, has been set up where friends, as well as strangers who have been moved by her death, have been paying tribute.

    Facebook / Via Facebook: kleyo.deabreu