PORTLAND — A Sumner girl died early Monday morning after a long illness, just 11 days shy of her 18th birthday.

Kyraa Locke, a student at Buckfield Junior-Senior High School, had been fighting acute pancreatitis since June, when she first entered the Intensive Care Unit at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Kyraa’s mother, Tammy Craw, spent almost every day at her daughter’s side for five months through several surgeries as doctors worked to keep her alive.

Norma Gross of Auburn, whose son was a friend of Kyraa, said the girl seemed to be recovering in the past month. She was out of a medically-induced coma and spent time talking to friends on her laptop. Gross made frequent trips to the ICU. “I would take my son and whoever else wanted to go,” Gross said.

Less than two weeks ago, Kyraa’s condition took a turn for the worse. On Sunday, she was given her last rites, Gross said.

Craw called Gross at about 2:30 a.m. Monday, shortly after her daughter died.

Gross said she met Craw shortly after Kyraa fell ill. Gross, whose son Dustin died three years ago, co-chairs Compassionate Friends in Lewiston, a support group for parents who have lost children.

Friend Alicia Patrie of Hartford said Kyraa was selfless. “She was a really good friend to everyone she met,” Patrie said. “She didn’t really care about her own happiness; she cared more about everyone else’s.”

On her sixth birthday, Kyraa miraculously escaped death when a train slammed into a car in which she was a passenger. Craw said she was struggling to understand why her daughter survived the dramatic accident only to fall victim to her illness.

In June, Gross and others in the community began raising money for Kyraa’s mother, who had left her job and her home to stay with her daughter. Private donations have poured in, surpassing $2,000 to help Tammy with her taxes, her dogs and food while she stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Portland.

Laura Zimmerman of the Leeds-based Rural Community Action Ministry said the nonprofit was looking for grants and volunteers to build a new house for Kyraa and her mother as Tammy’s home was “unlivable” after months of neglect.

Zimmerman said repairs would have been more expensive than building a house. She said the ministry has put those plans on hold. “We’re waiting to see what Tammy wants to do.”

Gross said George Reuter, principal of Buckfield Junior-Senior High School, has been running a fund for Kyraa’s family. Northeast Bank in Buckfield also has a Kyraa Locke fund.