Tragically cute local toddler won't let go of 'Gourd' Downie

Ten days ago, little Benjamin Leverne Broughton was enjoying Thanksgiving dinner at the home of Nilah and Eric Moss.

There was a little pumpkin or gourd at each place setting.

The toddler thought they made awesome toys.

"At Thanksgiving, Ben grabbed this gourd and has hardly let go of it since," says his mom, Meredith Broughton, a cardiac sonographer at Group Health Centre and associate pastor at Echo Bay Community Church.

"I jokingly named it 'Gourd' Downie," Meredith says.

That was 10 days ago.

Yesterday, as Ben jumped into his stroller for his daily walk, he clutched a favourite book in his right hand and his beloved Gourd Downie in his left.

"We're on our walk," mom Meredith said in a social media post. "Ben is still holding it and saying 'Gourd Dowie' and it's a sad moment over here."

The gourd was one of two that Ben brought home from Nilah and Eric's place, Meredith told SooToday.

She learned of the popular frontman/poet's death mid-morning yesterday, while working at Group Health Centre.

Downie died Tuesday night, surrounded by his children and family.

Ben is a little too young to understand why everyone who saw his mom's Instagram post was going "awwwww."

Among other things, Gord Downie was known for his advocacy on Indigenous issues.

Late last year, the Tragically Hip frontman was presented with an eagle feather and given the Lakota name Wicapi Omani (He Who Walks Among the Stars)  at a special chiefs assembly in Gatineau, Que.

After a seizure in December 2015, Downie's doctors advised him he had an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma.