After raising more than $6,000 in two hours, the Mount Airy community is coming together to support Mason, a 13-year-old boy who was killed during a flash flood on Thursday after being dragged into a drainage pipe.
Mason was carried off his feet by swift-moving floods at 5:20 p.m. on Thursday, July 31st, only 20 feet from his family’s apartment, according to a GoFundMe account set up to assist the family. The water pressure was too high, despite the efforts of Mason’s mother, 15-year-old brother, and neighbors. When responders finally managed to recover his body, it was too late, despite their best efforts for nearly forty-five minutes to remove him from the pipe.
Mason, according to the GoFundMe page, is the sweetest, funniest, and most upbeat young kid. He is also a passionate skateboarder and animal lover who is devoted to everyone he loves. “Where his light used to shine, there is now a darkness in our family,” the family says of the incalculable loss. As they prepare for an unthinkable trip, the family respectfully requests your help in paying for Mason’s funeral, burial, and celebration of life in addition to medical bills and other costs.
The catastrophe happened during a period of severe storms and flash floods in portions of Maryland, with Mount Airy receiving an estimated five inches of rain in a brief period of time. According to Doug Alexander, spokesman for the Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company, the circumstances produced a swift-moving river of water that was waist-deep in some places.
