YOUNG, beautiful and madly in love: Kari-Lee Birrell lived every minute to the full.

A spirited adventurer with a passion for travel, she was determined to make every moment count.

But the life she cherished so dearly was tragically cut short at the age of just 25 after she fell victim to a bacterial infection in her new lungs.

Kari-Lee had a lifelong battle against cystic fibrosis and spent the last two months of her life in hospital after receiving a double lung transplant.

But her illness had never prevented her from living life to the fullest.

The former Suncoast Christian College student was a global traveller, visiting 44 countries
across Europe, the Greek Islands, Egypt, Central America and South America.

Ms Birrell's family and friends gathered at the weekend to farewell the bright and bubbly cafe worker at her funeral on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

Almost 1000 people turned out in Woombye to farewell Ms Birrell, whose coffin was painted turquoise and driven to the church in a Kombi van.

Her devastated husband Tom, who met his wife when she started work at his parents' cafe, told mourners while their union was brief, it was filled with the most incredible memories.

He described their surprise wedding — during their supposed engagement party in December — as the best day of his life, the Sunshine Coast Daily reports.
"When you were walking across from the house, I was thinking to myself 'Could this get any better?' Yes. and it did,'' Tom said in his tribute to Kari.

"You looked so beautiful and as I wiped away my own few tears, I knew it was right.

"It couldn't have been more perfect. It was the best day of my life."

Ever-courageous Ms Birrell was determined not to left the illness define her.

Her mother-in-law, Michelle Birrell, posted a moving tribute to "the girl who had made (her) son's life complete" on Facebook.

"She has fought valiantly for the last 25 years against cystic fibrosis, determining in her heart that it would never define her life."

She has travelled the world, she loved to dance and she lived life with passion.
And her last words to the world were: "Love all people, respect others and be grateful for the little things in life. Peace out."

Another friend, Renee White, posted that she had learned three important lessons from her brave friend: Live life to the fullest, be brave and never give up.
"This girl, even in her darkest days never gave up fighting," she wrote.

"Right until the end. Not only that, her family never gave up either.

"Even when the doctors said it was hopeless, so many times, they never stopped fighting, never stopped praying and never stopped standing beside her."
Ms Birrell is survived by her parents Peter and Rhyl Venning, her sister Tiana and her husband Tom.