Bucks Co. Community Rallies Around Family Of Boy Killed By Tree

LOWER SOUTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP, PA —A GoFundMe page has been launched in memory of a 2-year-old township boy who was killed by a falling tree limb during a storm last month.

"Let’s get together as a community and put together something in his memory," Feasterville Fire Company Chief Christopher Cummins said about Dax Theodore Babcock.

The boy was killed on April 22 while walking in the back of his Feasterville home with his mother and 5-year-old brother, the chief said.

The tree split, with a section about 25-30 feet in length and 8-10 inches in diameter, striking the child. The mother and sibling were unharmed, Bucks County Coroner Meredith Buck had said at the time of the incident.

High winds had come in ahead of the thunderstorms and split a tree on the property that day, Buck said.

"This is a call that has truly changed me as a person in a lot of ways," Cummins said. "It is a call that I will never forget and one I hope to never respond to again. His family is truly remarkable. I met with them a couple of days after the accident and words can’t describe what they must be going through. They have an amazing family and neighbors."

The GoFundMe page has raised more than $30,000 of its $2,500 goal.

Michael Babcock, Dax's father who created the page four days ago at the request of friends, family and community members, said that the donations would go toward memorials to celebrate Dax's life.

Babcock said that talks and ideas so far include "giving back in ways to the amazing communities that surround us." He said that includes the donation of playground equipment to "dreams as large" as a community park in Dax's name.

Babcock said that he's been "humbled to tears" by the outpouring of support since the page was created. He said updates will be provided on the GoFundMe page as decisions are made on how best to use the donations.

"We know many people are struggling to find ways to honor or show their love in this trying time," Babcock said. "While we struggle to seek out the good bits mixed among the chaos, we truly can say that the outpour of love and support has been a beacon to turn to. We cannot explain in words the uplift this positivity is bringing us."