The father-in-law of Paris man killed in a traffic collision in Brantford last week is overwhelmed by the generosity of loved ones and strangers who have stepped up to help the young family left behind.
Forty-year-old Kyle Jason Dow was killed on the morning of July 15 when his motorcycle was involved in a crash with two other vehicles on Highway 403 eastbound and Wayne Gretzky Parkway.
Dow, who loved to both ride and build motorcycles, was taken to hospital but died of his injuries.
When John Thomson decided to set up a Go Fund Me page to help his daughter Victoria and her sons, four-year-old Ryder and two-year-old Axel, he had no idea what goal to set on the crowd-funding platform.
“I thought of putting it at $10,000 but that didn’t seem to work, so I set it at $15,000 thinking, ‘Wow, I don’t know if we can get that much.’”
Within 24 hours that goal was not only met, but almost doubled to $30,000. By Wednesday afternoon there were 270 donations totaling almost $40,000.
“I’m shocked and overwhelmed,” said Thomson. “I had no idea this would happen. All we’re trying to do is get (Victoria) over the hump and buy her some time.”
Victoria is a stay-at-home mom to her sons and hoped to continue doing that until Axel starts school in the fall. The collision has changed everything, said Thomson.
“She needs to get her affairs in order and return to work. That will take time and the funds raised will help during that transition period.”
Thomson said his daughter and Dow were teens when they met while living in Burlington. She was studying music and he was learning as an auto mechanic.
“He was lanky and wearing his baseball cap sideways,” recalled Thomson. “I wasn’t sure about him, but he turned out to be a really solid guy.”
The couple bought a starter home in Burlington and worked hard to renovate it. The family moved to Paris about five years ago.
Described as effervescent, extremely friendly and hard-working, Dow had a large community of friends.
“He had a deep resonating voice and a great laugh,” said Thomson. “You could hear him talking from the next room.”
Above all, said Thomson, his son-in-law was a family man. The family recently bought a tent trailer and the entire summer was booked with camping trips. Most have been canceled but Victoria is determined to get her boys out at least once before summer’s end.
“They were very much in love,” Thomson said of the couple. “They were having a great life.”
Friends are being welcomed to the Dwayne D. Budgell Funeral Home in Paris on Friday from 7 pm to 9 pm A memorial service will be held on Saturday at 11 am at Cedarview Church in Paris. It will be streamed on Facebook Live.
A family member also has set up an email address —
— for Ryder and Axel so that people who knew Dow can share personal stories and memories. The boys aren’t yet old enough to read them but, when they are, it’s hoped they will “get to know the loving kind of father he was.”
Donations to Go Fund Me can be made at