Community rallies around family of 4-year-old boy killed in Horseshoe Bay bus crash

A GoFundMe online fundraiser has been set up for the family of a four-year-old boy killed in a bus crash in West Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay.

Co-workers of the family devastated by a West Vancouver bus crash which left a four-year-old boy dead, and his mother badly injured, are rallying in support.

Leonardo was killed when an articulated bus jumped the curb near the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal. His mother Silvana was badly hurt and remains at Vancouver General Hospital. Another woman initially taken to hospital has since been released.

An online fundraiser has been started by Theresa Morrison, the co-owner of AJ’s Brooklyn Pizza Joint in Vancouver, where the boy’s father, Clineu, is an employee.

The family immigrated from Brazil a number of years ago, and are now Canadian citizens.

“Initially, when we announced that we had to close because we were dealing with a tragedy, there was a lot of support that the community was showing us, reaching out asking us if there was anything to do to support,” Morrison told CTV News on Sunday. “On Saturday, AJ and I were with Clineu at VGH. We visited with Silvana and talking with Clineu and recognizing just how severe Silvana’s injuries are, what care is going to be required for many, many years which is down the road.

“But right now, really what we’re focused on acutely is the cost of the funeral for Leonardo.”

While the family had initially hoped to hold Leonardo’s funeral in Brazil, based on the extent of Silvana’s injuries the fundraising effort now hopes to fund bringing some relatives up to Canada instead, as she will be unable to travel.

“Clineu started with AJ’s early 2021 and has been working us ever since,” Morrison said. “We have a very close AJ’s team. We call it our AJ’s family. Clineu is from Brazil, but we also have a number of employees here who are from Mexico. They’re quite close, in terms of the community they’ve built among themselves. They spend a lot of time together when they’re not working.

“When the tragedy happened, two of our staff members were with Clineu Wednesday night at VGH. And then, we’ve just been supporting him – a few people have been going throughout the weekend to be with him.”

Beyond helping with funeral costs and potential transport costs for family to come up to Vancouver, the fundraiser is also intended to give Clineu time off work to focus on supporting his wife’s recovery.

“Just looking at the cost of the care – it’s kind of an unknown as to what’s going to happen with her care,” said Morrison. “So for right now, wanting to take any financial pressure off Clineu to have to be working…he loves to work but right now he knows his time needs to be spent supporting his wife.”

West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager says the community remains heartbroken by the tragedy.

“I’m personally going to contribute and I hope everyone who can and is able to contribute anything will just to show our support for the family,” Sager told CTV News on Sunday.

Sager said the Taste of the Bay festival in Horseshoe Bay was cancelled the night of the crash and there are talks under way with the West Vancouver business community to reschedule the event as a fundraiser for the family.