The Oxford Ambulance Association is trying to raise $5,000 to help the Brooks Family pay for a funeral for Austin “D.J.” Brooks, III, who drowned at Oxford’s Swan Lake on June 30.
Brooks’ older sister, April, is a volunteer with the Oxford Ambulance Association.
The fundraiser is being conducted online. Click here to view the website where you can make donations to the fund.
D.J. Brooks, 24, was fishing on the lake when he suffered a seizure in his canoe. Click here and here to read articles from the Oxford Patch and the CTPost on the incident.
April, who is also a 911 dispatcher, was working when the call came in.
“She dispatched the ambulance and fire department to the call, and soon discovered it was her brother,” according to a note written by Jerry Schwab, the director of the Oxford Ambulance Association.
Schwab’s note on the fundraising website says April lost her older sister and her aunt this year.
“This has obviously caused significant emotional and financial strain on the family,” Schwab wrote. “They are in no position to pay the expenses associated with the burial of D.J.”
April Brooks has volunteered for the Oxford Ambulance Association for 14 years.
“She unselfishly volunteers as an EMT to help our community,” Schwab wrote. “This is an opportunity to show her our appreciation for her service to Oxford.”
