Reality show alumni try to help firefighters killed in Lebanon blast
Edmonton’s Adel Elseri is banding together with two fellow reality show alumni to help first responders after a number were killed during last week’s deadly explosion in Beirut.
Thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate, stored in the docks for several years, is believed to be the cause of the Aug. 4 blast that killed more than 150 people and left thousands injured and homeless. Elseri said his friend, a Lebanon firefighter, is lucky to have survived because he wasn’t working that day, however, many of his colleagues were.
In an effort of support, Elseri, along with two other former Big Brother Canada contestants, are hoping to raise enough money to help families of 10 first responders killed in the blast.
“We’re all half Lebanese and hopefully we can make a difference,” he said. “No one knew there was ammonium nitrate in the docks. If they had known they would have never sent firefighters. They would have evacuated as much of the area as possible.”
Elseri said he hasn’t visited the country since 2006, when Lebanon was in the middle of a war. He still has some family there, including his brother, his niece and two nephews. He said his brother described the aftermath of the explosion as a war zone.
“I called him within 10 minutes of the blast. You could hear people screaming and yelling,” he said. “(My brother) was like, ‘I don’t know if Lebanon is at war again like in 2006 or what’s going on.’”
Elseri said he’s hoping his connections with fellow former reality show contestants will raise the profile of the Gofundme page, especially given the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was on the show in 2014.
“We are doing everything we can to get it out there,” he said. “A lot of other Big Brother contestants across North America all shared it. Some of them have 100,000 followers. With COVID -19 and everyone not really working for three months including myself ... we’re not really pushing for donations but we might just luck out with that one person that we shared with.”