SANPETE COUNTY, Utah — Brinley Bailey proudly rode her turquoise snowmobile with a fierceness in her eyes and a smile on her face. It’s one of the many things her loved ones will miss most about her.
“She was the light of our lives,” said Keith Bailey, her father.
Around 1 p.m. Saturday, the 16-year-old was riding her dirt bike before she fell off a steep embankment in the White Hills area near Gunnison and died from the fall, according to the Sanpete County Sheriff’s Office.
Brinley, a junior at North Sanpete High School, had a big impact on everyone around her. On Monday, her teachers, friends and family wore blue — her favorite color.
At her family’s home, a collection of signs that said “We love you Brinley” hung on their front door.
Laine Cook, her yearbook teacher, said she was a special person.
“Her personality was extremely different from any other student that I taught just because she was super kind all the time,” Cook said. “She always had a smile on her face.”
Brinley, the oldest of four daughters, was a loving big sister. Her parents, Keith and Jennifer Bailey, said she had an unforgettable spirit.
“She was an amazing big sister, amazing daughter — she taught us a lot,” her father said. "She was always happy and had an infectious smile and a light that radiated from her.”
Brinley loved her family, God, and snowmobile racing. She and her family traveled around the country and raced together, her father said.
Brinley was usually quiet, but that quickly changed whenever someone brought up snowmobiles.
“All you had to do was ask her about that and she would go on and on,” her father said while laughing.
Whenever she set her mind on something, she would go after it.
“She was a list maker,” her mother Jennifer Bailey said with a smile. “She would follow that list and check it all off.”
Brinley and her younger sister Breanne were inseparable. Breanne said she doesn’t know what she’ll do without her big sister.
“She’s touched so many people,” Breanne said. “I know why this is happening. She deserves to go to heaven more than anyone I know.”
The Bailey family said they’re getting through this hard time through faith and support from family and friends.
“Our faith in Jesus Christ and the power of prayers from those in our community, our family, and friends,” he said. “That’s what is getting us through.”
