A GoFundMe has been set up for the family of 38-year-old Raymond Sawada after the Burnaby, B.C., firefighter and former NHL player died suddenly while playing hockey Monday evening.
According to the post, Sawada is survived by his wife Nicole and his two daughters Victoria, 9, and Charlotte, 6.
“For the girls and Nicole, losing their dad and husband is going to leave a sad mark on their hearts and make for a long road ahead,” organizer Brianne Sameshima wrote in the post.
Sawada was raised in Richmond and played at Cornell University before getting signed to a two-year deal with the Dallas Stars.
Before reaching the apex of the hockey world, Sawada played in the Pacific Junior Hockey League with the Richmond Sockeyes.
Sockeyes president Doug Patterson says it was a traumatic blow to the Richmond community when news of Sawada’s death broke.
“It was his oldest daughter’s birthday yesterday,” he told Global News.
“He’s celebrating her birthday, then going off to hockey and poor fella doesn’t return home to his family. It’s just devastating and it’s just been really tough on all of us.”
Patterson says he’s known Sawada for many years, adding his and his wife’s families have a long history in Richmond.
“Nicole’s family, the Sawada family are both longtime Richmond families,” Patterson added.
“When this something like this happens, it just, it really just rocks the community.”
The GoFundMe page has a goal of raising $50,000 but within hours over $168,000 was raised for Sawada’s family.