Family injured in Sea-to-Sky crash gets new car, thanks to 10-year-old - Action News
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British Columbia

Family injured in Sea-to-Sky crash gets new car, thanks to 10-year-old

Jonathan Yeung, 10, raised over $20,000 to cover the cost of a car for a family injured in a violent crash on the Sea-to-Sky highway last month.

Jonathan Yeung, 10, raised over $20,000 to buy a car for the crash victims

Jonathan Yeung spent over a month raising $20,000 to buy a new car for the victims of a crash involving a luxury car rally on the Sea to Sky Highway. (Gian Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

A10-year-old from West Vancouver, B.C., raised over $20,000to buy acar for a family injured in a violent crash on the Sea-to-Sky Highway last month.

Jonathan Yeung spent several hours over the past month calling friends, relatives and local businesses asking for money for the family, who were all injured when a Lamborghini and Range Rover spun out of control on the highway up to Whistler on Sept. 5.

Everyone involved in the crash, including two children, weretaken to hospital. The driverof the Range Rover is under investigation and police are considering criminal charges.

"Two kids were badly hurt and they were my age," said Yeung, who is 10 years old. "I was very sad and shocked that this happened to them."

A silver Lamborghini involved in the crash was part of the Hublot Diamond Rally. (Whistler RCMP)

Yeung spent over four weeks fundraisingfor the family, whom he had never metin person.

He got to meet them for the first time Friday afternoon whenhe handedthem the keys to a pre-ownedVolkswagen at a dealership in Burnaby, B.C.

The family declined an interview but said in a statement to CBCNews that they had immense appreciation for Yeung'sact of kindness, generosity, and empathy.

"It takes an incredibly generous and kind person to donate for some stranger, especially in times like this," the statement read.

The family was in awe when Yeung pulled the black cover off their new car, which was waiting at the dealership for them. They told CBC all four of them are recovering slowly but feeling much better.

Yeung, with the help of some Burnaby RCMP officers who heard about the story and stopped by, unveils the family's new car in front of them. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)

'It could've been anyone'

Yeung said he felt the urge to help when he saw the pictures of the crash in a news story his dad showed him.

"It could've been anyone ... It could've been my dad [because]we always take that road and now I'm on the ski team, so we're gonna take that road often," he said.

His father, Kevin Yeung, said his son isn't new to the world of fundraising, having led and participated in several other charitable causes before this one.

"It'snot that smooth sailing," Kevin said. "It'snot like he has a bunch of followers [on social media]... it's really been lots of calls, lots of emails."

"Sometimes they rejected me, but that doesn't stop me, because Icare about my mission to help," addedJonathan.

The car will behelpful to the recipient family.

They said in their statementthat because they did nothave optional car insurance they were unableto expense a rental car while the police hold their vehicle for the crash investigation, a process that could take months.

Jonathan Yeung stands in front of the pre-owned car he bought for the crash victims, with money he raised online and through friends and family. (Gian Paolo Mendoza/CBC)