FRESNO (KMJ) — Friends of the father and son who were killed at Shaver Lake over the weekend are rallying around the family to help them in their time of need.
The incident on November 12th saw both Todd and Brayden Byers fall and lose their lives near the Shaver Rock area, on the northeast side of the lake itself. Fresno County Sheriff’s Office states that they were walking along a hiking trail and fell into a deep canyon, both dying as a result.
“It’s really sad – Brayden was a freshman, he had a bunch of friends here”, says Ken Wilkinson is the Youth Pastor Mountain View Community Church.
He describes the 14 year old as being a part of a close group of kids, who he’d spent years with while attending the church.
“This is the first time they’ve ever gone through anything like this. Especially because it’s so sudden, that doesn’t help anything. It’s not like it’s something they had time to prepare for”.
He adds that the church are now trying to help them through the tragedy.
“We set up a vigil for him on Monday night where we had around a 120 people to pray and bring those emotions that we’re feeling to the God who gave them to us, to grieve together”.
Online accounts set up to help the family have been established. The link to the GoFundMe account (to help pay for unexpected expenses) can be found clicking here, and the link to the Meal Train page (to help keep the family fed) can be found clicking here.
Hear the story from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
