SIX NATIONS – The death of a three-year-old boy in a tragic house fire Friday on 4th Line near Chiefswood, has brought the Six Nations community together in sorrow and in support of the Sherri Bomberry and Trevor McNaughton family.
The house fire took the life of young Tate Ryerson McNaughton. There were seven children living in the family home but they all made it to safety except Tate. Despite heroic efforts of Six Nations Fire Chief Matt Miller who, once told there was still a child inside, rushed into the blaze and found the youngster under his bed. He and carried him out of the fully enflamed house, but it was too late.
The pre-Christmas tragedy hit Two Row Times sales account manager Tiff Thomas especially hard. Although a distant cousin to the Bomberrys that was not what sparked her to help.
“We’re a small community and everyone knows each other,” said Thomas. “When something like this strikes the community, we all feel it. We are good people and we all love our kids. But it was the loss of the little boy mainly,” she says with a tear welling up. “I have a little boy around the same age too and it kinda put me in her shoes, I guess.”
Thomas was moved to opened a GoFundMe account online and is busy making requests for donations to help the young family deal with the horrific situation. The donations have been flooding in from on and off reserve.
Thomas explains that her choice to fundraise through GoFundMe was based on the accountability and oversight the company does to ensure the money raised goes to the right cause.
“They take a 7.9 per cent fee but as far as I am concerned, it is well worth it considering the protection and accountability they provide,” says Thomas.
In the first four days of having the site up and telling of the tragedy on our social media, the Tate Ryerson McNaughton fund quickly ballooned to more than $15,000.
The account will remain open this week and donations are still being accepted by logging onto www.gofundme.com/helpthebomberryfamily.
Thomas’ main goal was initially to raise enough money to pay for Tate’s funeral. In no time at all there was more money coming in than she expected which will help the family and the surviving children with cloths, food, and other expenses so they don’t have worry about anything but healing their hearts.
“That’s the lasting they need to worry about right now,” says Thomas. “Christmas is coming, they have lost everything and they have other kids to get gifts for and restore some form of normality to the family.”
