Fire victims face long recovery

Cornelius Woelke and his young sons Cornelius Junior, two-and-a-half years old and Jacob, who will turn a year old on Nov. 1, severely burned during a fire in their apartment in Springfield on Saturday, Oct. 19, have started to respond to medical treatment but face a long road to recovery, Jake Friesen said.

Jake, of the Langton area, Cornelius Sr.’s employer, is related to the Woelkes through his wife, Nancy, and started a “GoFundMe” online page to raise money for medical bills.

The Woelkes came to Canada from Mexico two years ago and weren’t yet considered permanent residents eligible for government health care.

As of Monday night, Oct. 28, the GoFundMe page had over $105,000 in pledges.

Mr. Friesen said he’d expected the Woelkes would need money to pay for their medical bills, but after researching how much extensive hospital care could cost, he worried they might need twice as much than the current $150,000 goal on the fundraiser.

More details in the Oct. 30 edition of The Aylmer Express. (AE/Rob Perry)