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Children are encouraged to wear baseball jerseys at the funeral service for Jackson Sparks, 8, according to his obituary. Sparks marched in the Waukesha Christmas Parade with his Waukesha Blazers baseball team when a driver plowed an SUV through the parade.
Six people, including Sparks, died and more than 60 were injured.
A Wisconsin native is now urging people across the country to wear jerseys on Friday to honor Sparks and show support for his family.
Following: What we know about the attack on the Waukesha Christmas parade
“I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose a child and then lose a child this way,” said Todd Ahrens, from Greendale and a father of four. “It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. And I just want them to know that their baby boy meant a lot to those around him and across the United States.”
Jackson and his 12-year-old brother Tucker, who was also injured in the incident, were hospitalized in intensive care unit in Wisconsin for children.
Jackson underwent brain surgery on Nov. 21, according to his GoFundMe page. He died of his wounds two days later. Tucker is recovering from a broken skull and road rash, and was due to be sent home, according to a November 23 update on the page.
On Monday, Ahrens posted a Facebook post encouraging people to have their kids wear swimsuits to school on Friday to honor Jackson.
“It’s not so much about putting the jersey on us,” said Ahrens, who lives in Rockwall, Texas. “We are the ones who let Jackson’s family know that there are a lot of people here who are just devastated by what happened and that they have a support group.”
Sparks love for home baseball hits for Ahrens. His two teenage sons play select baseball and his eldest son once played the sport.
“The baseball community is a tight-knit family across the United States,†said Ahrens. “Baseball families stand united.”
So far, Ahrens’ post has been shared over 6,000 times on Facebook alone. It also circulates on Twitter.
The Brew Nation Twitter account, which has 39,000 subscribers, shared it, and sports presenter Brian Anderson did too, tweeting that he will wear a baseball jersey on Friday.
Ahrens’ teenage sons also made a TikTok video to try and get more people involved.
Ahrens said groups across the country have already reached out to say they will participate, from a high school in Los Angeles to the baseball organizations in Missouri and Nevada.
“It warms my heart,†Ahrens said.
Ahrens and his family were visiting relatives in Wisconsin when they heard about the parade tragedy. Her niece, a cheerleader from Waukesha North High School, was in the parade but was safe.
For about a decade, Ahrens drove a vehicle on this parade when he worked in promotions and marketing for radio station FM106.1.
Ahrens and his wife, Brenda, from Brookfield, are both the first responders. He is a firefighter / paramedic and she is a nurse.
“Our hearts just bled terribly for everyone who was there and everything that happened,†he said. “We cried with the rest of Wisconsin.”
A visitation and funeral service for Sparks are scheduled for Thursday, with a private family funeral on Friday, according to his obituary.
“As Jackson Sparks’ family and friends gather for his funeral, his teammates will wear their baseball jerseys to honor and celebrate his life and love of baseball,†the Waukesha Blazers Baseball Club said in a statement Tuesday.
In lieu of flowers, the Sparks family said donations can be made to the Waukesha Blazers in memory of Jackson, the statement said.
Donations can be made by purchasing special Blazers T-shirts at form.gle/FCaAgBSUCq45t7AM8 or the organization’s GoFundMe, gofundme.com/f/waukesha-blazers-memorial-fund.
“The awareness of the baseball community, frankly across the country, goes beyond words,†said Jeff Rogers, president of the Blazers Baseball Club, in the release. “The Blazers are family and losing Jackson has been devastating. From this terrible and unimaginable period, we seek the good to shine. Jackson was an energetic and caring young boy who loved baseball and captured the hearts of our nation. As a club, we hope to build a lasting legacy to honor him and bring families together to help children learn and grow through baseball.
Sophie Carson of Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
Contact Hannah Kirby at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @HannahHopeKirby.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha parade tragedy: wear jerseys on Friday to honor Jackson Sparks
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