Cheynne’s shining soul won’t be forgotten
"The girl everybody loved, our precious friend and more, Cheynne, passed away in a tragic hiking accident."
What her band mates have described as her “beautiful, shining soul” won’t be forgotten, Burning Blue wrote on their facebook page about the late Cheynne Holloway (21).
The young musician tragically lost her life after falling off a popular cliff in Northcliff while on her first date with British friend James Oliver late on Saturday afternoon 17 January. The couple climbed to the top of the cliff to enjoy a view of the city and Oliver was adjusting his camera to take more pictures of Cheynne when she fell. An eyewitness told News 24 that he suddenly heard Oliver scream, “Where is she, where is she?”.
Realising that she fell Oliver climbed down to find her. The eyewitness, claiming to have climbed down himself, said they found her unconscious but breathing. He said one could hear that her lungs were filled with blood. Oliver attempted giving her CPR for about 20 minutes.
According to Netcare 911 spokesperson Santi Steinmann Cheynne succumbed to her injuries. Netcare 911 paramedics assisted in a rescue operation and retrieved her body using ropes.
Cheynne was the bassist of locally popular band Burning Blue. On facebook her band mates Hunter McWilliam and Stephen and Ryan Greenwood on the band’s page wrote that their “hearts are shattered”.
“The girl everybody loved, our precious friend and more, Cheynne, passed away in a tragic hiking accident.
“The most beautiful, shining soul has left us,” they wrote.
“There are simply no words.”
The post was shared 84 times and 130 people commented, sharing their condolences.
Fred Otto, owner of live music venue Rumours Lounge in Weltevreden Park describes her death as a big loss to the local music industry. He described Cheynne as an angel, a caring, sweet and helpful girl that did a lot for charity and was an animal lover.
“Cheynne shone with her caring nature,” Otto said to the record.
“She was a vegan, she never smoked and never touched alcohol.
“In a music world where it is almost expected to be ‘dark’, she was never controversial.”
Otto said that she and the band had big plans for the year ahead and was planning a tour with Man as Machine.
“Burning Blue is like the resident band here at Rumours and so I’m not quite sure what lies ahead for the other members.
“She was an angel and she will be dearly missed.”
