Michigan man, Jonathan Brussow, had just asked his girlfriend’s parents for their blessing to marry their daughter the night before he was swept out to ocean by a wave and killed while on vacation in the Bahamas, reports say.
Athena Williams said she and her boyfriend, Brussow, 19, met the summer after eighth grade. Williams said Brussow told her that they were destined to be married.
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The night before Brussow died, while on vacation with Williams and her family, he sat down with her parents and asked for their permission.
The next day, Brussow also asked for Williams’ brother’s blessing while out walking. That’s when a wave swept the two men into the ocean. Williams’ brother was able to make it out safely, but Brussow was killed in the accident. source
Williams says she and her family are now trying to give back to the people in the Bahamas who helped try to save Brussow. She says they’d like to raise money to install a safety device where her brother and Brussow were swept out. They also want to raise money for the local hospital to get new equipment.
They set up a GoFundMe page to help locate the massing man, but are now offering refunds.
From GoFundMe:
The original intention of this campaign was to raise funds as an incentive to get more locals looking for Jonathan. That actually worked – more people came out and looked for Jonathan, which ultimately led to his discovery. Since time was of the essence, the reward though, was to find him alive.
Now this campaign must shift to the recovery costs and future expenses. Brad and his family have incurred an incredible amount of expenses due to many unforeseen events.
Since the focus has now shifted from raising reward money to covering expenses, I feel the need to offer a refund to anyone that may not agree with this new direction of the campaign. Please email me directly and we’ll make sure to get you a refund.
Where do we go from here… several local people took ferries from other islands to help in the search, and Brad wants to reimburse them. Their help proved to be invaluable. Jonathan obviously needs to come home and arrangements made. Brad would like to offer the Bahamian people a memorial in Jonathan’s honor of safety gear at the bridge so that others may be offered help quicker. The ideas continue to pour in…and they all take money.
What a generous community we have! To raise this much money in such a short amount of time is amazing. The human spirit never ceases to amaze me.
Please keep Athena in your thoughts – she was the love of Jonathan’s life.