SASKATOON -- At the end of November, as the Noon family was preparing for the holiday season, 25-year-old Savannah Noon began feeling unwell. Her family thought it was a bad cold, but by mid-December Noon was in the ICU being treated for COVID-19.

“I got a call from the hospital and they told me the doctor wanted to talk to me, and it scared me,” Savannah’s cousin Desiree Noon told CTV News.

“I waited for his call and he told me that the COVID had destroyed her lungs.”

Savannah died on December 26.

Her family says they were thankful she was alive long enough to spend one last Christmas with them.

“I always say ‘she gave us Christmas,'” said Desiree.

The family wouldn’t comment on any pre-existing medical conditions Savannah had, but said that watching her health deteriorate as quickly as it did came as a shock. Now they're urging other young people to stay safe.

“I would just say, take precautions. Even if you do get it and beat it, you could pass it along to an older person, and that’s really careless. Firsthand losing someone to this is really scary,” Desiree said.

Associate professor of medicine at the University of Saskatchewan and local ICU physician Dr. Hassan Masri says the virus affects everyone differently, and the idea of young people being safe from COVID-19 is not only untrue, it's also unsafe.

“That has been a myth that has been extremely damaging in the fight against COVID-19," he said. “It’s not true, period. No truth to that at all. We know that in Saskatchewan, Canada, and over the world, there have been many people hospitalized with COVID-19 that were under the age of 20.”

The Noon family is now remembering Savannah for her passion towards events and festivals in Saskatoon, and how she wouldn’t hesitate to tell a family member that they are loved.