Son left behind
Friends rally around boy who lost mother in rampage: “I don’t think he knows his mother is not going to come back,”
Renuka Amarasingha’s son meant the world to her, and last year, she asked a lawyer friend to make a will to designate two legal guardians for the boy in the event anything bad happened to her.
When the friend, Anoshan Ahangama, learned Monday afternoon that the 48-year-old Toronto woman was among 10 people killed in the van rampage on Yonge St., he and his wife rushed to the boy’s school before heading to Sunnybrook hospital to try to confirm the tragic news.
“We were in shock. We just couldn’t believe it. We hoped it was a mistake. The first thing we thought of was her son,” said Ahangama, whose family met Amarasingha three years ago at the daycare centre their children attended. “Renuka was a single mom and had no family in Canada,” Ahangama said. “We feared no one would pick him up at school. He looked sad but is doing OK. He went back to school and played with other kids the next day like nothing has happened. I don’t think he knows his mother is not going to come back.” According to the friend, Amarasingha came to Canada from Sri Lanka more than eight years ago and had been raising her son, Diyon, 6, by herself. The child’s father lives in Montreal and has been notified, he said. A group of Amarasingha’s close friends met Tuesday to make arrangements for the care of Diyon, who is still in senior kindergarten, and to commemorate her, said Ahangama, adding that her body had yet to be released.
He said Amarasingha, who worked for the Toronto District School Board, came to him last year and told him she wanted to make a will to delegate the guardianship of her child. “Renuka wanted the best opportunities for her son. She took him to soccer, swimming and karate. She spent all her time with him. She was a proud single mom. She wasn’t rich financially, but her life was so rich with Diyon,” Ahangama said.
“She said Diyon was the only one that’s important to her in her life,” he said. “She wanted to ensure his well-being if something bad happened to her. That’s her only wish, her last wish. He’s all she had in her entire life.”
Ahangama said friends have been working closely with children’s aid, and Diyon is now in the care of one of the families as his guardianship has yet to be executed and finalized.
Amarasingha’s family in Sri Lanka was shocked at the news of her death because both the mother and the son just returned to Toronto last week after a three-week vacation, said Ahangama, who is acting as the family’s counsel.
“They just couldn’t believe it was going to be the last time they would see her,” noted Ahangama, adding Amarasingha’s mother and older sister are hoping to get visitors’ visas to come say farewell to her and show support for her son.
“Renuka was a generous person and always helped other people. We just want to do our best to help her back.”
The Children’s Aid Society of Toronto declined to comment on Amarasingha’s case, but said the agency gets involved at times when it is suspected or confirmed that a child has no functioning legal guardian. People who report to the CAS may not know if there is a guardian, and case workers will follow up to make sure.
“CAS doesn’t have a role where there is a capable caregiver and the deceased’s wishes are known regarding a plan for their child,” its CEO David Rivard told the Star. “In general, when there is a tragedy of this scale, we count ourselves among a broader community that can offer support.”
As of Thursday evening, a gofundme campaign f or Amarasingha has raised more than $243,000 to help Diyon with necessary expenses and set up a fund for his education. Friends have planned a meeting Friday to arrange a formal memorial service and funeral for the woman.