By Shelby Brooks
Family and friends of a Pakenham man who was killed earlier this year on Healesville-Kooweerup Road have raised over $6000 in his honour.
Don Brown of Pakenham lost his life a week after he was hit by a car while riding his Vespa-style scooter on Healesville-Kooweerup Road Tuesday 9 February.
Don’s family came together on Saturday 31 July to walk and run around Lakeside Lake, Pakenham to raise $6,400 for the Don Brown Foundation.
In conjunction with the Royal Melbourne Hospital where Don was cared for after the accident, Don’s family created the Don Brown Foundation to provide access to educational courses and seminars for ICU workers.
The money raised from Saturday will go towards covering the cost of the first seminar for ICU staff.
“It was a tough day but a really really good day,” Don’s son Tommy said.
When asked if it was tough physically or emotionally, Tommy said, “all the above”.
“We had to dig into some dark places to get it done.”
Tommy completed a 21km run around Pakenham while the rest of the family did smaller walks around the lake.
“It was really humbling to see how many people were down there and how many helped, including local businesses,” Tommy said.
“There was a really good feeling in the air.“
He described how the man who passed on vital dash cam footage to police participated in the run as well.
“It’s touching. The Pakenham community can get a bad rap sometimes but it was beautiful to see them all come together for Dad,” Tommy said.
