A community is rallying together to support two kids who have been orphaned after losing both parents – their father most recently in a home-burglary during loadshedding.
Johannesburg, South Africa (16 October 2022) – A community is rallying together to support two young children who tragically lost both parents, their mother, 12 years ago and their father, a week ago in a heartbreaking robbery gone wrong.
In a story that has rocked the Johannesburg community, Sean Crotty left behind his two young sons after tragically losing his life while defending his home and children during loadshedding.
All for two cell phones. That is all the burglars took.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, while loadshedding had plunged his neighbourhood into darkness, Crotty heard something in the house. Burglars had broken into the complex while the electric fencing on the boundary wall was left without power. They had broken a window and quickly entered the house. It was dark, confusing and absolutely harrowing.
“Sean died a hero. The only reason he chased after the intruders was because he thought they had taken his son. They had broken Tristan’s window to get in and Sean couldn’t see him in the room,” Natalie Almeida, a close friend of the family, explained to Good Things Guy.
“He didn’t know that Tristan had run to his brother Blayden’s room after seeing the robbers pointing a gun at him through the window.”
Tristan and Blayden, just 14 and 17, have now lost both their parents.
Their aunt, Sean’s sister, Shannon van Coller has opened her home to the young men, who will now take care of them.
Natalie put a call out on social media for the community to support Tristan and Blayden. Within two days, the community donated R23,000 in support.
“We are reaching out for your support and love to assist them wherever possible. Sean was in no position to pay for any form of life policies and was struggling to make ends meet as it was – the irony that they stole from someone who struggled already as a single father.”
Natalie has now created a Backabuddy page to get support from all over South Africa.
“It is both Tristan’s and Blayden’s birthday this month as well. Any donations for the boys would be greatly appreciated to assist Shannon not only with their ongoing educational needs (Blayden starts Grade 8 next year and Tristan Grade 12) but also for their school transport and, most importantly, medical aid to ensure she can care for them the way they deserve with them now being orphans.”
“They will also need to consider possibly expanding their home to accommodate extra rooms for the boys, as they currently own a 2-bedroom house only.”
“Please share far and wide. We need these boys to know that they are loved and that as much as our country’s infrastructure and the crime rate have failed them, we, as humans, won’t!”