SUSSEX, N.B. – A young couple in Sussex have built a community playhouse in memory of their toddler, who died eight months ago.
“The pain doesn’t go away, the pain is always with you,” said Rebbeca Duncan.
Their son, 14-month-old Jakab passed away in January. The couple says he was a sweet little boy who went down for a nap and never woke up.
“They tried for an hour and they couldn’t get him to breath, he was gone.”
Doctors believe Jakab may have died of SIDS or sleep apnea. He passed away on the very day Rebbeca was due to deliver their now eight-month-old son, Deon.
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Ray Duncan says he’s a spitting image of his big brother.
“He’s cute, adorable and reminds me of his brother a lot.”
In hopes of keeping Deon’s big brother’s memory alive, the Duncans and their five-year-old son, Tyrel, developed a plan to build a crooked community playhouse in Sussex’s O’Connell Park in memory of Jakab.
“We thought it would be a great idea to put something back into the community for the kids to play with and we know our son would have loved it too,” Ray said.
People from across the community donated time and materials to build the structure. Volunteers moved it into place last weekend.
“We were scared we couldn’t get it to town cause we made it so big,” Ray said. “I ended up having to call people in who specialized in over sized loads.”
Jim Landry with Landscape New Brunswick was one of the volunteers helping out with the project.
“A tragic, absolutely tragic story but the outcome I think is pretty special,” he said.
The Duncan’s have also created the Jakab Duncan fund through Landscape New Brunswick. Funds raised in their boy’s honour will be used to expand the play area again next year.
“We figured we will have something to remind us of our son every time we are here,” said Ray.
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