9-Year-Old Girl Dies From Brain-Eating Amoeba in Water

A brain-eating amoeba that lurks in fresh water has prompted warnings from Kansas officials after it killed a 9-year-old girl.

Hally Yust was an avid water skier and spent the past few weeks swimming in several bodies of fresh water. She died last week fromNaegleria fowleri, a brain-eating parasite that lives in warm, standing water.

At Hally's funeral Monday, her family wore matching T-shirts with the logo of her water-skiing club, CNN affiliate WDAF said. Relatives honored the young athlete by announcing the Hally Yust Women's Basketball Scholarship at Kansas State University.

"Our precious daughter, Hally, loved life and part of her great joy was spending time playing in the water," her family said in a statement.

"Her life was taken by a rare amoeba organism that grows in many different fresh water settings. We want you to know this tragic event is very, very rare, and this is not something to become fearful about."

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