Those of us who follow the website The Federalist know about Bre Payton. She was a staff writer there, a young conservative woman who wrote on topics ranging from breaking news to SCOTUS to the culture.

Bre joined The Federalist in 2015, and quickly became a rising star. She became a favorite at cable news networks, too.

Readers could also find Bre’s work at such sites as The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. Truly, this gifted young woman was climbing into journalistic rarified air.

She was also a devout Christian and staunchly pro-life, along with being a self-described “messy eater” and “insomniac.”

Screenshot of Bre Payton Twitter page.

Here’s Bre in action last year on Fox News Channel, with an incisive critique of the mainstream media:

Ben Domenech, publisher at The Federalist, wrote that he was “devastated.”

Bre has passed. We are devastated. Last we saw her, she was her funny, smart, vivacious self. Now lost to us so suddenly. pic.twitter.com/2qJ624A4Dl

— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) December 28, 2018

The Federalist wrote in an obituary:

“Bre brightened the lives of everyone around her. She was joyful, hard-working, and compassionate, and she leaves behind friends and colleagues for whom she brought nothing but sweetness and light.”

Sen. Ted Cruz also tweeted his shock and condolences to Bre’s family:

“A heartbreaking loss. Heidi and my prayers today are with Bre’s family, friends, and colleagues.”

The cast of The Five at Fox News ended their Friday broadcast with a tribute to Bre, in which you can hear the heartbreak in their voices.

Video: Here's @TheFive's tribute to @Bre_Payton (minus a few seconds that were cut out b/c of our Snapstream recordings at the MRC switching at 6pm to the next show) #RIP pic.twitter.com/3KIxncIWAu

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 28, 2018

So how does a stunningly beautiful and vivacious young woman like Bre Payton lose her life so suddenly?

It was the flu. Bre’s friend Morgan Murtaugh found her at her apartment, unconscious and barely breathing. She was then quickly taken to a hospital in San Diego on Thursday morning, where she received a series of tests. Doctors diagnosed her with the H1N1 flu, commonly known as the swine flu. In addition, meningitis was also a possible culprit.

Bre Payton was only 26 years old.

Now you usually think of flu becoming deadly for the very young or the very old, and typically this is the case. However, sometimes it can take the young and healthy, as it did one year ago, when a 21-year-old personal trainer became sick with the flu at Christmastime. He died a few days later at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

I won’t harp here on getting a flu shot. But if you do feel the flu coming on, take it seriously. Get thee to a doctor as soon as you can.

As for Bre Payton: we will miss her. Her light has gone out much too soon.

Featured image: ImageParty at pixabay.com. CC0 Creative Commons.