SUSSEX, N.B. – A family is continuing to expand a play area in O’Connell Park as a tribute to their son, Jakab, who died at the age of 14 months.
Dozens of volunteers met at the park on Saturday to build upon the playhouse called Jakab’s Toolshed.
Jakab Duncan died last year from what is known as Sudden Unexpected Death in Childhood.
His mother, Rebbeca Duncan, said her son was a playful little boy.
“He would look at his father as he’s grabbing the remote he wasn’t allowed to have and look at him as he’s walking away slowly,” she recalled. “When Ray looked at him he would run.”
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Jakab’s father, Raymond, said the decision to add a patio, slide and trees to the playhouse will act as a legacy for the boy.
“It’s going to let everybody not forget who our boy was,” he said. “We’ll never forget. No nobody else is going to either.”
Last year, the Duncans built and installed the playhouse at the park with some help. The Landscape New Brunswick Horticultural Trades Association played a big part in the installation.
Jim Landry, the association’s executive director, said they were back again this year with more volunteers.
“Everything we’re doing here is done on a volunteer and donation basis,” he said. “Our suppliers stepped forward and supplied us with the concrete products we’re using to build the patio.”
Sussex residents, including Joan Routledge, who took park in Jakab’s Toolshed Family Fun Day said the project brings the community together.
“The community bonds and people in the neighborhood feel that excitement and spirit of cooperation and it spreads out through the community,” she said.
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