‘MY SISTER'S FINAL WISH'
New Idea|April 6, 2020
ELSA LARSEN REVEALS WHY HER SISTER KRISTEN, WHO LIVED A SHORT BUT EXTRAORDINARY LIFE, WILL FOREVER INSPIRE OTHERS
Jackie Brygel
‘MY SISTER'S FINAL WISH'

Even when she was unwell, Elsa says her sister Kristen was so full of life and never dwelt on the negatives.

Even before she was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer at just 21, Kristen Larsen lived life to the full.

For the remarkable young Brisbane woman, who inspired so many during her 27 years on earth, there was never time to ask ‘why?’ or ‘what if ?’

As Kristen’s older sister Elsa says: “Kristen always seemed to have this sense of knowing life is short – that there is no point in waiting when you can do something now.”

Certainly, no sisters could have shared a closer bond than Elsa, now 33, and Kristen.

“We were the best of friends,” says Elsa. “We loved doing everything together.”

And to the sisters, travel was always part of the plan.

“We’d save up and head off on trips together as often as we could,” says Elsa. “We both thought it would be great to work overseas for a while, so we looked into moving to London. We packed up our lives in Brisbane and set off on this new adventure. I got a librarian job and Kristen was working as an HR professional. We were living our best lives.”

Elsa recalls: “Kristen was full of energy and used to tire me out. Life was almost too good to be true.”

This story is from the April 6, 2020 edition of New Idea.

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This story is from the April 6, 2020 edition of New Idea.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.