TOWN OF HAMBURG, N.Y. (WKBW) — Heartbreak is the overwhelming feeling in the Blasdell community after 8-year-old Thomas Ross was hit and killed by a suspected drunk driver Saturday night.
His family shared a message on their GoFundMe Page sharing how they'd like him to be remembered.
"To know him was to love him. We're truly at a loss for words. We are grateful that he spent his last day at his favorite place, the beach," his family wrote.
'Our sympathies go out to the family': Victim, driver identified in Hamburg crash that killed 8-year-old boy
He was a second grader at Blasdell Elementary. His favorite color was orange. He loved to create and had dreams of becoming an artist.
"We are grateful to have had the time we had with him. We didn't deserve him," they wrote.
The Frontier Central School District community started the day with a meeting to make sure counseling was there for students and teachers who needed it.
"There's very few actions or words that would assuage the pain that family's going through. However, the keynote here is to know she's not doing this alone," said Christopher Swiatek, Superintendent of Schools after speaking with Ross' mother.
The Falcon family is standing with her. Students felt his absence in class on Monday.
"Students throughout the day were putting sticky notes and notes on his desk, wishing him and his family well and praying for him," said Swiatek.
The Frontier community and surrounding school districts have made it known they'll do whatever they can to help.
"We are not sure where to go from here or what the next steps are for our family. But we do know that we have a village that won't allow us to crumble," wrote Ross' family.
They ask that you keep 4-year-old AJ in your thoughts as he continues to ask when "Tom-Tom" will come back from heaven.
