Last Updated on September 13, 2016 by CCAR Staff
ONTARIO >> It was only a few weeks ago that an Ontario family was happily celebrating the birth of twin boys. This week, they are planning the funeral for their 6-year-old, killed in a crash that injured his brothers and father.
“We never planned on having to lay him to rest. No parent wants to lay their baby to rest,” said little Damien Ortega’s aunt, Nicole Garcia Sanchez, who said the young family were not financially prepared to hold a funeral and burial for their 6-year-old middle child known as Chino.
Only a few days after the fatal crash, Sanchez and the rest of the family were still trying to come to terms with the fact that the smiling and singing boy who loved hugs was gone.
“Chino was happy, and he always would choose to go the playpen in McDonald’s as long as he was with my kids, especially Lilly, his cousin,” she said. “He loved to dance all the time. He loved to make jokes and have us all laughing. He loved having sleepovers with his cousin, Junior.”
Damien was riding in a vehicle with his 11-year-old brother, infant twin brothers and father early Saturday morning near Ranchero Road and Sante Fe Avenue East in Hesperia when the vehicle rolled about 100 feet over the side of an embankment, according to reports. Everyone was seriously hurt. Damien was killed.
The twins have since been released from the hospital, but Damien’s older brother and father are still under observation.
“I know (his mother) doesn’t have time or even the mind to organize a fundraiser. She’s very heartbroken,” said Sanchez. “With my brother-in-law still in the hospital and my oldest nephew still there too, it is the least we can do to help her out, because I know if something like this would have happened to me, they would be there for me the same exact way.”
A car wash will be held Saturday and Sunday beginning at 9 a.m. at John Galvin Park, 1211 E. I St. The family has also set up a GoFundMe account to help offset the costs of the funeral and the medical expenses for the rest of the family.
