A 19-year-old woman died after a house fire on the day of her wedding, according to her Wisconsin family.
Paige Ruddy was unable to escape the fire, which happened around 3:50 a.m. on Tuesday, May 23, in Reedsburg, WISC reported. A cause of the fire is unknown.
She was taken to a University of Wisconsin hospital and died Wednesday, according to details of a GoFundMe. The coroner’s preliminary investigation indicates Ruddy died from smoke inhalation, according to WMTV.
Hours before the fire, Ruddy privately exchanged her vows with her fiancé, Logan Mitchell-Carter, WMTV reported. They were to be wed at the Sauk County Courthouse surrounded by family Tuesday.
Those same family members gathered around Ruddy at the hospital as she died, the GoFundMe says.
Sarah Fry, Ruddy’s mother, described her first-born daughter as “beautiful, loving, feisty, capable and tenacious.”
“These two adorable kids were set to become husband and wife,” she said on Facebook, sharing a photo of the couple. “Very much in love, they were planning a beautiful future together. They were saving to buy a home, Paige had just enrolled in school to be a vet tech and they loved gaming together.”
Ruddy’s aunt called her “a shining light in this dark world.”
“(She) had the biggest heart, so much spunk and was an all around amazing miracle of a human,” Holly McMillin said.
Reedsburg is about 130 miles northwest of Milwaukee.