Support for Lewis Wheelan grows, local trust fund closes

A Sault-based trust fund for Lewis Wheelan is wrapping up operations as new fundraising initiatives are launched from the Toronto area.

This morning's Toronto Star announces the establishment of a new trust fund for Wheelan, a former member of Sir James Dunn Eagles football team who had a 7,200-volt conductor fall across his body while he was clearing brush around Great Lakes Power lines.

The accident happened last May as Wheelan was starting his second day on a summer job working for a contractor hired by Great Lakes.

Triple amputee

As a result of the fiery accident, he lost three limbs.

This morning's Toronto Star quotes Bill Thomas, the Markham lawyer who set up the new fund, as saying that it's not designed to provide Wheelan with a lump sum of cash, but to "look after Lewis' needs as they arrive."

Details about donating to the new fund can be accessed from the Toronto Star by clicking here. The Star also reports the involvement of a Toronto fundraiser, and the creation of a new website by Ken Audziss, a student from Thunder Bay. To access Audziss' website click on this.

Sault trust fund closing

Meanwhile, Silvi Hamilton, co-trustee of the Sault-based Lewis Wheelan Trust Fund, told SooToday News this afternoon that her Northern Credit Union account will be closed and the balance forwarded directly to Wheelan.

"I've done what I wanted to do," Hamilton said.

"Lewis was a friend of my son's. We've reached our goal. They're taking this to a totally different level. The account will probably be closed by tomorrow," Hamilton said.

Hamilton says she's spoken to Wheelan twice in the past week.

New apartment near rehab centre

"He's moving into his own apartment not far from his rehabilitation centre. He sounded a little down. There's a lot of things going on around him. He just wants some peace right now. He's been under a microscope for so long," Hamilton said.

The new trust fund is being established one month after the Toronto Star published a 3,900-word front-page article (four times the length of a longish piece in the Sault Star) about Wheelan's struggle to recover from the accident.

The newspaper has received 400 phone calls from people wanting to help.

To read that article, click here.

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