Just over a week has passed since the sudden death of 14-year-old John Del Rosario and family friend Marcial Reyes is still processing the terrible news.
"John was such a quiet fellow. At the same time, he was happy all the time," Reyes said of the Terry Fox student who died Feb. 21 from complications following cardiac arrest.
It's still not known what caused the boy's heart to fail and a coroner is looking into the matter, said Reyes.
But in the meantime a YouCaring crowd funding page (youcaring.com/marilynstephanieandcindydelrosario-762321) has been established to help the family with funeral costs.
"We set our goal at $10,000 — it's just a number picked out of the air, just trying to help out the family as well as we can," Reyes said of single mom Marilyn and John's two older sisters, Stephanie and Cindy.
Reyes said the family is devastated by the boy's death and the series of events that began when the Fox Grade 9 student, who previously attended Kwayhquitlum middle school and Coquitlam River elementary, started getting sick on the weekend of Feb. 18. The boy had flu-like symptoms and when they didn't improve, the family took him to a walk-in clinic, and later to Eagle Ridge Hospital, where he suffered a cardiac arrest.
Reyes said the boy and his mom were able to share loving words and the boy was revived and subsequently transferred to Royal Columbian Hospital, but died shortly after arriving at the New Westminster hospital.
"It was a fast four hours from the time they came into Eagle Ridge," Reyes said, noting that the boy's youth gave them all hope that he would survive.
Many in the tightly-knit Terry Fox community have reached out, Reyes said, and students have been commenting on social media.
To help the Fox students deal with the sad news of their fellow student, youth workers were made available and a note was sent home to parents with information about online resources, said Rissa Wilson, Fox vice-principal.
In the YouCaring profile, John is described as being a goofy and loving personality,who enjoyed gaming and skating.
The funeral and internment is scheduled for Saturday, March 4.
