Jona Bejko

Early October 30th our beloved daughter, sister, niece, cousin, and best friend Jona Portokalle Bejko passed into paradise after a tragic car accident. On October 25th Jona turned 21, having lived a beautiful youth.

Jona Bejko, passing away just after her 21st birthday, was a beautiful soul. Jona was from Naples, Florida and while driving alone down the freeway en route to pick up her little sister. Her mother, who was at home at the time, felt a stinging reason to call her daughter to check on her while she was out. In that very moment Jona answers the call sobbing telling her mother “Mama I love you, I’m in the water, I love you!” repeatedly. Jona’s mother, Arta, stayed on the line until she heard her daughter's phone fill with water while her siblings contacted people for help. Arta Bejko lived her worst nightmare as a mother that evening, listening to her daughter take her last breaths. Tragically, Jona’s seatbelt failed to retract due to the initial collision and airbag release. Her attempts to break the window’s fell short and Jona was left to accept her faith. As her family members we will never recover from this, but we do find comfort in the fact that Jona was not alone in her last moments on this Earth, she was in the company of her own mother’s voice. The crash is still being investigated by the Collier County Police Department extensively.

My aunt Arta and her husband Edison came to the U.S in 1999 with nothing in an effort to provide for their family opportunities they never had themselves. They worked restlessly, Arta, a hairdresser at great clips and housekeeper and her husband clocking in hours at a factory, to make ends meet. Edison would work long nights so that he could take care of the kids during the day while Arta worked, and Arta would come home after long shifts to help her children with their homework and tuck them into bed. As the children got older it became harder and harder to keep up with them, but lucky for my aunt and uncle their daughter Jona always stepped in to help. After getting her drivers license, she picked up her younger siblings from school, took them to practices, and went grocery shopping when her mother couldn't. Jona made sure to clean up after her younger siblings, cook for them, and make sure they were caught up on school work if it was a busy week for her parents. Jona became the backbone of her family at an early age and her parents say without her they wouldn’t know what they would have done. Jona was a clear portrait of her mother and father, a gentle and selfless soul that had a passion for life. Jona had dreams of becoming a Nurse Practitioner with a specialization in Dermatology, but unfortunately those dreams will never come true for her.

The emotional toll of losing a child is immeasurable, and the Bejkos are struggling to cope with the aftermath. In addition to the unbearable pain, they are burdened with hospital bills, funeral expenses, and the strain of trying to maintain a sense of normalcy for their other children.

As a community, we can make a difference for this family in need. Your contributions will provide my aunt’s family with the financial relief they desperately need. Your support will help cover the funeral and hospital costs ensuring that their family can mourn without the added stress of financial hardship. Every donation, no matter the size, will go directly to the Bejko family while they try to rebuild normalcy.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

-Hillary Hysenaj, first cousin of the deceased