Mother devastated after vandals destroy memorial for son who drowned in Red River
'It's like desecrating a grave site,' says member of group that discovered the vandalism
The family of a young boy who drowned nearly a decade ago in Winnipeg has been dealt another blow after vandals destroyed a memorial in his honour.
Nathaniel Thorassie, 6, died after falling into the Red River in 2010. After the tragedy, a statue of a little boy, sitting cross-legged was placed near the river in Point Douglas.
"It's like I lost my son again. it breaks my heart for people to be so disrespectful," said Thorassie's mother, McLaine Flett, who came to see the destroyed memorial for the first time on Thursday.
The Mama Bear Clan was on patrol Tuesday night when they found the gate leading to the fenced-in memorial was broken open and the statue inside was vandalized.
"When we saw this site desecrated, it's like desecrating a grave site, it's profoundly devastating for everyone," said Mitch Bourbonniere, with Mama Bear Clan Patrol.
It is another loss for a family that has struggled to move on from a tragedy that changed their lives forever.
"I'm trying to learn how to forgive a person who did this, but right now I'm really angry," said Flett.
Nathaniel and his 10-year-old brother were playing hockey on the frozen river when they both fell in on Dec. 4, 2010. A passerby saw the older boy struggling in the water and fished him out with a rope he had in his vehicle.
For weeks, Winnipeg Police Service divers searched the frigid waters under treacherous ice conditions. Exhaustive techniques included using sonar equipment and a pig cadaver to simulate the weight and size of the young boy.
His body was eventually found in September 2011, 12 kilometres downstream from where he was last seen, near the Disraeli Overpass in the city's Point Douglas neighbourhood.
In that same neighbourhood, the community is coming up with ways to replace or fix the memorial.
Mama Bear Clan says it will now work to raise money to replace the statue.
Flett says moving the memorial is not an option.
"Half of my son's remains are still in there. That's why we have it here because one of these days I know someone is going to find him and bring him back to us."
