'We're all so lucky' to have known Dana Brothers, who died in snowmobile crash, says friend

The many friends and family of a woman who died in a "fluke accident" on a snowmobile last week are honouring her memory.

Dana Brothers was out learning to drive a new snowmobile in her backyard in Norris Point when she struck a fence post and went to hospital with serious injuries, says longtime friend Peg Norman.

"There was nothing they could do to save her. She had massive internal injuries from the accident.… It's pretty sad," said Norman.

"Who would expect this? It's just so tragic and so unbelievable and so unexpected, and so people are just rallying and loving each other and doing the best that they can."

Norman posted an obituary, written by Brothers' family, on Facebook Sunday night, but it was a difficult thing for her to post.

"Even getting that out was a major feat. Like putting pen to paper, writing down … like, how do you say this?" Norman said.

"How do you say that somebody who was so vibrant and just loved by so much, how do you write that down? That she's no longer with us?"

Community builder, social worker

Brothers, 54, originally from Long Harbour, had moved back to Newfoundland with her partner, Carol Bélanger, after spending years in the Gatineau-Ottawa area.

"She loved Gros Morne. She loved the life she and Carol were building there," Norman said.

Brothers was a longtime member of the New Democrats, a political activist, and had her hands in just about every part of her community, Norman said.

"She was a social worker, she was an advocate for people living with addictions. She just had so many coats ... and she was a community builder," said Norman.

"If there was an injustice, she smelled it and she fought against it, and the Labrador Land Protectors in particular and the whole Make Muskrat Right campaign, she was very active in that movement."

In recent years. Brothers struggled with her health, after being diagnosed with Lyme disease, Norman said.

But when she was able to be out making a difference, she was.

"Dana was one of those people that everybody that knew her was convinced that they were her best friend. She had that kind of energy and that kind of zest and just loved life and her family," said Norman.

"You look at all of the tentacles, you look at everything that Dana has had her fingers into … everywhere she went, people responded positively. You couldn't not. She was just that kind of person."

Norman said Brothers' funeral is happening in Long Harbour Wednesday afternoon, with planning underway for a celebration of her life in St. John's on Saturday, with details to be announced.

But in the meantime, Norman said friends and family are mourning the loss of "the glue" that kept them all together.

"She was a loyal, loyal friend," said Norman.

"We're all so lucky to have had Dana in our lives."

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador