‘it still doesn’t feel real,’ says father of three-year-old who died in bouncy castle tragedy at lasalle park

sitting on a bench across from a splash pad where he used to bring his daughter, luca ciampini said he hopes she's remembered for her beautiful spirit. "she was here for such a short time, but people remember her forever that crossed her path," ciampini said tuesday morning. ava ciampini, 3, was critically injured on may 31 when a sudden windstorm swept through ouellette park in lasalle and sent an inflatable bouncy castle into the air. she died of her injuries in a hospital."we're heartbroken ... it still doesn't feel real," ciampini said. "we're waiting for her to come back."

ava was one of 11 people injured during the church-organized outing. wind speeds in montreal reached between 60 and 80 km/h that afternoon, according to environment canada.her death has raised questions about safety protocols surrounding inflatable play structures, but ciampini said he's not thinking about that right now.

he added that the only reason he's able to function is because ava would want him to. "she wants us to be happy and take care of our son and be there for each other, husband and wife," ciampini said. "everything that we do is for her." in the time since the tragedy occurred, the community has rallied around the ciampini family, with a gofundme campaign raising nearly $480,000 as of tuesday afternoon and a memorial for ava — complete with stuffed animals and heartfelt notes — set up in the park.

"it's been unbelievable, the countless acts ... i can't even put it into words," ciampini said. "every message, every donation, everything is such a big hug." he described ava as a happy, silly, smart little girl who loved making people laugh. "she's just so intelligent, so sweet, so kind," ciampini said. "wanting to take care of us when we were hurt, if we had a headache — she was so motherly at such a young age and she just wanted to take care of people." she was a great big sister to her one-year-old brother, milan, ciampini said. “she loved her little brother, hugging him and making him laugh when he would cry and singing him songs.”his favourite memory of her?"everything," he said."there's so many ... just watching her with my wife and my son," ciampini said. "how loving she was, and how much love she brought to us." he recalled his mornings with ava before daycare, weekend breakfast and coffee shop dates, and spending time with her at his gym."things like that, on our own, just me and her, was kind of our activity," ciampini said. a public memorial for ava in ouellette park drew hundreds of people on tuesday evening.the park is where ciampini asked his wife, arielle, to be his girlfriend 18 years ago, and where he proposed to her 13 years later. "you always try to keep the tradition of bringing the family there, and that's why we were there at the event," he said. the family chose to donate ava's organs. ciampini said he hopes she's remembered as a hero."we love our daughter, and her legacy will be remembered forever," he said. "i'm going to make sure of that." kthomas@postmedia.com