The guilt-stricken husband was now left with the entire weight of the world on his shoulders.
As a newly single parent, he worked three part-time jobs, including one as a Sunday school teacher at North Fremont High School to help make ends meet in an extremely tough time.
Once word got out about the tragedy in their neighborhood, EastIdahoNews.com knew they had to do something for the grieving family.
Needless to say, Dakota was completely overwhelmed with emotion.
With tears in his eyes and words barely coming out of his mouth, he couldn’t believe that total strangers would want to reach out and help a family they didn’t know.
The Nelson family didn’t have a car that was big enough to transport all of their family members, so Dakota knew that the money would go to buy a vehicle that could fit them all.
In addition to the incredible secret, anonymous donation of money the family received, they’ve also had a GoFundMe account set up to help them.
The family ended up receiving over $60,000 in support.
And even though Ream has been gone for over a year now, the love and donations keep flooding in.
It was a difficult time for the family, as can be expected, but the support has kept them strong.
After receiving the incredible gifts and anonymous donations, Dakota, along with his two eldest children, penned a letter to the people involved in the Secret Santa donation. It reads:
“It is hard to write this as I am at a total loss of words. There is no way for me to accurately convey how grateful we are for this kindness. As I was surprised with the gifts, I looked at my kids – who will remember this event forever as the best time they had in a hard time. Thank you for being an example to my family on how to look out for the needs of others.
I have noticed that through this ordeal, we have been blessed to see kindness replace the pain of losing a loved one whom I had been married to for 17 years. My children have noted this and have stated that they want to do the same for others.
Thank you again for making this Christmas special.
Again, I just cannot convey how thankful we are but let me provide you with a few more details of the story.
On July 11, we had been cleaning out the garage together and I left to put some tools in the shop 30 feet away while Ream swept the floor. I had been gone less then 5 minutes and saw her lying on her back with eyes wide open. My 3-year-old was standing over her talking as he thought she could hear him due to her eyes being open.
I ran and cradled her in my arms and blew into her mouth thinking she choked on something. I then started CPR and my 8-year-old walked out and started screaming. I told him to leave and my 12-year-old walked in the garage and, seeing the situation, called 911 and put on a show so the other kids would not go out to see her. He then went down to the end of the street to waive down the ambulance.
After two and a half weeks at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in ICU, she was moved to long-term care and we watched her pass away on Sept. 30 with all of her 7 kids gathered around. Her body had become septic and she had no hope of recovery. I wanted her to pull out of it so badly but it was not to be.
I know no one makes it through life without some sort of event that is strenuous to the soul but I had not realized how much one can be happy even when the light is out and it is dark. Thank you for being that light.
I have asked my two oldest kids, 12-year-old Micaiah and 16-year-old Ammon, to include their thoughts:
Thank you so much for all joy you brought to us. I had basketball that day but when my brother told me we were on the news, I was pretty confused. Then when my dad showed me the video I was holding back tears. Everyone I told they were crying and stuff like that. This will probably be my best Christmas ever. Thanks again I wish you a Merry Christmas.( :\ From: Micaiah
I want you guys to understand how much this meant to my family and how happy we are for this gift. It is so special to know that even our family in a small little town is being helped this Christmas season and so are countless others. Thank you so much. I can not even begin to tell you how grateful my family is.
– Ammon”
