Friend leads fundraising for crash victim’s heartbroken family
The victim of a Highway 6 crash on Thursday was a father of three young girls with a fourth child on the way, a close friend of the family says.
The friend, Kristin Lamarre, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the family of Mark Murphy, 33, of Binbrook, who did not have life insurance, she says.
In addition, an online auction has been organized that will begin Wednesday at 6 p.m. through the Social Club Women’s Boutique Fitness Studio on Binbrook Road. To make donations or receive information about the auction, email lamarre.kristin@gmail.com.
Murphy was driving alone in one of two vehicles involved in the 1:30 p.m. head-on crash near Glancaster Road. The second car had two occupants who both survived and were taken to hospital.
Lamarre says Murphy was returning home from his job as a labourer at Coreslab Structures in Dundas.
“The only information we have is that it was not distracted driving. His cellphone was in his pocket and his bag was zipped shut beside him. Everything else is just speculative,” she said.
Murphy leaves his wife Nicole — a rehab nurse who recently returned to work after a maternity leave — and daughters Charlee, Makenzie and Abigail. A fourth child is expected to be born before Christmas.
“We’re hoping to get across the great love that Mark and Nicole shared,” Lamarre said. “They had something that everybody else strives for. It was something that was really special.”
Lamarre said Nicole is “too heartbroken” to speak to media.
“She is such a loving, caring person. We just want to make sure we can help her in every way possible.”
Murphy grew up in Newfoundland and met Nicole there. She was from Ontario and living in Newfoundland for a couple of years, said Lamarre.
They both shared a love of baseball — and the Toronto Blue Jays — and decided to marry and move to the Hamilton area, settling in Binbrook.
Lamarre said Murphy’s funeral will be baseball-themed. It will take place Thursday at 11 a.m. after a 10to-11-a.m. visitation at the Bay Gardens Funeral Home, William J. Markey Chapel, 947 Rymal Rd. E.
The GoFundMe site says, “Nicole and her three beautiful little girls lost the love of their lives, and while they are struggling to cope with this horrific loss, we are trying to ensure that they have one less thing to worry about by easing the financial burden on them at this time.”
By 11:30 a.m. Monday, the fundraising website — www.gofundme.com/helpforthemurphys — had raised more than $28,000.