GoFundMe campaign started for family of 14-year-old St. Charles burn victim
Shannon Arps set up the crowdsourcing page after her friend's son was seriously burned in a garage fire
Arps got the terrible phone call on Sept. 1.
"It was immediate shock, because I didn't know if children were in the fire, or if was just the garage," Arps said. "Once I found out there was a boy in the fire, my heart just sunk."
According to Arps, 14-year-old Nicholas Pilote was in the garage fixing his dirt bike when he unknowingly spilled some gas. He started his bike, which shot out a spark and ignited the fire.
Pilote escaped, but he went back in to try and take out the burning bike to save the garage. He slipped and suffered serious burns in the process.
He was flown to SickKids Hospital in Toronto, where his parents Ang and Dean soon joined him.
There's no timeline as to when Nicholas will be released from the hospital, Arps said. She told CBC News he's in a lot of pain, having had several surgeries, skin grafts, and a blood transfusion.
Arps has now turned to the community for help.
Using GoFundMe, a community-driven fundraising web site, Arps is looking to raise $8000 for the Pilote family to help cover expenses in Toronto.
Arps said $6500 has been raised so far, and she can't believe how supportive the community has been.
'Things are replaceable, people are not.'
Despite the heart-wrenching circumstances that motivated her bid, Arps said parents can still look at this as an opportunity to remind children that they are far more important than the things they own.
"Fires are the number one fear of anyone," Arps said.
"It's really important to reach out to everyone and say, things are replaceable, people are not."