Funeral held for Brampton boy killed in townhouse fire
Posted June 14, 2014 5:52 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Friends and family of the 10-year-old boy killed in a townhouse fire in Brampton said goodbye at his funeral on Saturday.
Nicolas Gabriel was sleeping over at a friend’s home on Ardglen Drive, near Queen Street and Kennedy Road, when a fire started in the unit early Sunday morning.
Although there were other people in the townhouse, and the fire spread to the rest of the 18-unit complex, he was the only one who died.
“I don’t know what I would’ve ever done if I had lost a child,” said family friend Maria O’Neill.
“I think that’s got to be the hardest thing for a parent to go through.”
Scott Funeral Home covered the cost of Nicolas’s funeral, which took place at North Bramalea United Church. According to a report in the Toronto Star, comedian Russell Peters, who grew up in Brampton, also offered to pay for the funeral and ended up donating $10,000 to the family.
Regeneration Outreach Community has raised more than $90,000 for the dozens who remain homeless, and is still accepting donations. Meanwhile, Loblaws held a fundraising barbeque at the Real Canadian Superstore on Steeles Avenue on Saturday.
“Some of the families had content insurance. More than two-thirds of them didn’t. So they’ve lost everything,” Regeneration executive director Ted Brown said.
“We’ve received a $10,000 donation. We’ve received a $5,000, a $7,500 — those are amazing. But the more amazing ones are stories of a little girl who emptied her piggy bank of $10.12.”
Click here to donate.
