Vigil held for 11-year-old boy who died from smell of cooking fish in Brooklyn

Saturday, January 5, 2019
Vigil held for 11-year-old boy who died from smell of cooking fish in Brooklyn
Tim Fleischer reports from the vigil for Cameron Jean-Pierre in Canarsie.

CANARSIE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A heartbroken community in Brooklyn is saying goodbye to a young boy who died from an allergic reaction after inhaling fish fumes.

Their grief runs deep. As they hug each other it is shared with so many family and friends of 11-year old Cameron Jean-Pierre. And his father Steven now trying to cope with his sudden loss.

"I'm mourning my son today, but I really want to celebrate him," Cameron's father said.

Paying their respects to Cameron's father and mother, dozens and dozens of people came to light a candle and remember a young boy so full of life with so much promise, lost so quickly.

Cameron is thought to have died after suffering an asthma attack after smelling fish his family had been cooking on New Year's Day.

"I just want to find out from this situation how we can help any other kid," Cameron's father said. "I don't know, maybe my son passing is a reason to do it."

"It was tragic, very tragic," Cameron's football teammate Jamie Whyte said.

This tragedy is also hard on Cameron's young friends and football teammates from the Brooklyn Skyhawks who filled the crowd.

"When I scored my first touchdown, when I scored my last he was like one of the biggest motivators on the Brooklyn Skyhawks team," Whyte said. "So that is what made him a very good player."

"We came together today to like pay our respects to Cameron," teammate Chase Burns said.

On his recent 11th birthday, Cameron celebrated with a father-son video and by wearing a crown.

"That was the last picture I had of him. I would never have thought all this for him," Cameron's dad said. "This is not what I want. I would rather him be right here next to me."

They prayed for Cameron because he is now their angel.

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