More than $ 68,000 was raised for a Texan boy after he died of suspected hypothermia after playing in the snow during the winter storm.
A GoFundMe was created in honor of Cristian Pavón Pineda, 11, who died Tuesday at the family’s unheated mobile home in Conroe, Texas, north of Houston.
“Due to the low temperatures seen in the Conroe area, this family was without two days without light. The dawn of February 16 dropped to 12 degrees, ”said a statement on the GoFundMe page.
“Cristian was found lifeless. We are trying to raise funds to be able to transfer the body to Honduras. His desire was to see his grandparents again and that is what the mother wants to accomplish, please help in whatever way she can, with luck, to achieve this, God bless them ”, the statement continued.
Initially, only $ 5,000 was requested from the public, Cristian’s tragic death generated an influx of donations that now exceeds more than $ 68,000 for the family.
Investigators were still working to determine the child’s cause of death, but his family believes it was due to hypothermia. Like millions of other Texans, they were without power for several days during the winter storm.
Cristian first came to the United States in 2019 to reunite with his mother, whom he had not seen for over a year, according to Univision.
On Monday, the child played in the snow in the midst of a winter storm, as it was the first time he saw snow. His mother even made videos of the moment when the boy, dressed in a red jacket, was playing outside.
“Everything was fine,” said María Elisa Pineda, Cristian’s mother, to Houston Chronicle. “He was happy that day. He was not sick at all. “
But the next day Cristian was found dead under a pile of blankets after his family initially thought he was sleeping.
The cold snap that hit several states, including Texas, left at least 47 people dead in the United States. The death toll in Texas is 30 people, according to The Washington Post.
A 75-year-old man from Texas died of hypothermia after he left to get an oxygen tank from his truck. Then a 60-year-old man from Abilene, Texas, reportedly died frozen in his recliner with his wife beside him. The wife was taken to the hospital, officials said.
At least five people died of carbon monoxide poisoning after trying to sleep in the car to stay warm, The Washington Post reports. A grandmother and three children died in a fire in Sugar Land, Texas, in an attempt to keep warm.
The winter storm has passed with increasing temperatures in Texas. But it left behind a shortage of food and water for residents across the state, as well as frustration with the failed electrical system that caused blackouts in homes that lasted for days.
President Joe Biden approved emergency disaster relief in Texas on Saturday to help the state while recovering from the winter storm.