Loved Ones Mourn S. St. Paul H1N1 Victim

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - One of the victims, who died from pneumonia and an H1N1 infection, was a 29-year old woman with no underlying medical conditions.

Jill Belde was a recent graduate of the University of St. Thomas, who was going to graduate school to get her Master’s degree.

Her co-workers at Youthlink, where she started interning this fall, say her passion for helping people and her outgoing personality made her a perfect fit for social work.

But on Halloween, Belde called in sick because she wasn't feeling well. Within days, she was on a ventilator at United Hospital and on her Caring Bridge website. Her family said she'd been diagnosed with H1N1.

Then nearly two weeks after Belde first got sick, her organs began shutting down and the bubbly 29-year-old with no underlying health conditions, lost her battle with the flu.

Following her death, more than 600 friends and classmates posted their condolences on her Caring Bridge website.