Community comes together for young boy

By Hailey Trealout

It takes a village to raise a child.

On Feb. 22, a fire took everything six-year-old Damian Bossom knew including his father.
Martin Bossom, 30, died of his injuries at Windsor Regional Hospital and his girlfriend, Samantha Stanley was recently released from a hospital in Hamilton, Ont.

Family and friends gathered at Dirty Jerseys Sports Grill to raise money for Damian to contribute to his trust funds and pay for his education.

Dawn Weidemann worked with Martin and helped organize the event. She said she was impressed with how many people came out for the event.

“It’s been four weeks in the making and I’m really happy to see the turnout,” said Weidemann. “People told me not to worry, but I was because of our economy and there’s so many people who need people out there right now. The outreach of this community has been amazing.”

Damian has been living with his grandmother, Donna LaPlane. She said Damian is doing well despite all he lost.

“He’s our rock, he’s what helps us get up in the morning and move on,” said LaPlane. “We’re all pulling together on Damien’s dad’s behalf. This is going to be a memorable thing for him to know that his dad left this kind of a legacy with people.”

The three hour event raised $4,849.50 with walk-in donations and the help of family friends who went door-to-door collecting donations.

Christine Donnelly worked with Martin and helped organize the event. She said the reason for the event is to give Damian something to look forward to in the future.

“Our goal was to come out and celebrate Martin’s life. Celebrate who he was as a man, a father, a friend, a brother and show him how much we loved him,” said Donnelly. “We want to give his son something that unfortunately Martin can’t give him anymore. We just want to help.”