Late last year, 12-year-old Toby Montgomery was diagnosed with fibrolamellar carcinoma, which is a rare form of cancer affecting the liver.
Earlier this month Toby died, and now many Brampton residents are coming together to help support the family.
Skyler Roberts, one of the moderators of the Brampton subreddit, met Toby’s father, prominent Brampton cycling advocate Kevin Montgomery, on the site.
Roberts told the Brampton Guardian, “I felt like as a community, we need to do something to remember Toby and honour his life. It’s just a tragic thing and it happened so unexpected, within a few months of the diagnosis.”
Roberts is helping to raise funds for a memorial tree with a plaque dedicated to the memory of Toby, which will be placed at Kiwanis Memorial Park (400 Main Street South). The park is a park near the family’s home and is one which they frequented.
Roberts additionally shared with the Guardian that he hopes that will be a memorial service in the future when people are able to gather.
Aside from this Reddit-based fundraising effort, other community members are continuing a GoFundMe that was originally to help fund Toby’s treatments. It will now help to support the family through this incredibly difficult time.
Additionally, Kevin Montgomery posted on Facebook that the family’s wishes are for donations to be made to the Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation instead of sending flowers.
If you would like to donate to the Reddit fundraiser for the memorial, you’ll need a Reddit account, and you’ll have to message the Brampton subreddit moderators, which you can do here.
Otherwise the GoFundMe continues, and you can donate here.
Feature image: GoFundMe fundraising page