AMALGA, Utah — Family and friends gathered inside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Amalga to honor the death of Deserae Turner, a 22-year-old who survived a gunshot to the head eight years ago.
On Saturday morning outside the funeral, FOX 13 News spoke with Morgan Perkins, a family friend, about what Turner meant to people.
“She’s a whirlwind. We know she’s up there getting stuff done, doing things she needs because that is who she truly is,” Perkins said.
In the eight years since the attack, Turner kept giving life everything she had. She graduated from high school, fell in love and got married, and served a mission where she grew thousands of flowers to give to others.
WATCH: Speakers at Deserae's funeral
“Deserae loved very deeply and lived fully,” said April Turner, her mother.
After nearly 50 surgeries, 16 of those being brain surgeries, Deserae continued to fight.
“She suffered and it was hard, and she kept coming back,” said April. “One of us said, ‘you are so tough, you are so tough,' and she’s like, ‘tougher than a bullet,’ and that just stuck.”
After her family carried her casket, which had a bright bouquet on top, into a hearse, her loved ones drove to the Smithfield Cemetery where Deserae was buried.
“She gave everything she had,” April said.
