A week has passed since five-year-old Owen Sperry was killed in a car accident and now the people of Timberlea, N.S. are pulling together to ensure his memory is not forgotten.
Adam Allen says his cousin loved music, idolized his big brother Jack, and was almost always smiling.
“He loved Kraft Dinner, hot dogs and jam sandwiches,” says Allen. “For a five-year-old boy, he definitely touched a lot of people.”
Sperry died last week when the vehicle he was travelling in with his dad and brother was struck head-on by a truck that lost control on slippery roads.
The boy will be laid to rest tomorrow.
“It’s going to be a very tough day and I suspect it’s going to be a very large ceremony,” says Allen. “It’s touched a lot of people in the community.”
Rebecca Mitton didn’t know the Sperry family, but she has a young child of her own. She was devastated when she heard the news and helped to set up a fund to cover the cost of Sperry’s funeral.
“You could tell everyone was feeling the exact same way and everyone was eager to do anything that they could,” says Mitton
Once the funeral costs are covered, she hopes any leftover funds will go towards a scholarship in Sperry’s name or a memorial, or possibly both.
The fund was created Monday night and close to $3,000 has already been raised.
“It just goes to show that we’re a community that actually stands together and the support of the community, it just makes me feel really good to be a part of it all,” says Allen.
“It’s such a sad event but it’s beautiful, it really is beautiful,” says Mitton.
Allen says he is touched by the community’s support, which is also helping Sperry’s parents cope with their devastating loss.
“They’re really feeling that support that there’s for them through all avenues and I think that’s giving them a lot of support through this scenario.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Garreth MacDonald
