A GoFundMe page for Illinois high school freshman Aleksas Beiga has already raised $52,000 to support his family.
The American teenager who died Monday in an avalanche in Switzerland while on spring break has been identified as Aleksas Beiga, a high school student from Illinois.
Beiga, a 15-year-old freshman at Naperville Central High School, died in the April 1 avalanche near a Swiss ski resort in Zermatt.
The incident also claimed the lives of a 25-year-old Canadian woman and a 58-year-old Swiss man, local police said in a statement.
A GoFundMe page set up by a friend of the boy’s father — former Olympic swimmer Nerijus Beiga, 52, who represented Lithuania at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics — raised more than $52,000 Saturday for support the Beiga family.
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Aleksas Beiga
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“Whether he was diving into the pool, biking down the trails, or racing up the slopes on his skis, Aleksas approached every moment with enthusiasm and passion,” Neringa Mockus wrote on the GoFundMe page.
“The sudden loss of Aleksas has left an irreparable void in the hearts of his family and friends,” she added. “The pain of his absence is immeasurable and the grief weighs heavily on all who knew and loved him.”
Mockus then explained how the funds would be used.
“The financial burden associated with the repatriation of Aleksas’ body and the aftermath of this tragedy is immense, and any contribution, no matter how small, will make a significant difference in easing their burden,” she continued. “But beyond financial support, we also ask for your prayers and thoughts as we mourn the loss of this beautiful soul.”
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The Swiss Alps in Zermatt, Switzerland
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In addition to her father, Beiga is survived by her mother, Sonata, and her sister, Eva.
“It was a shock,” Eva, 20, told Chicago Tribune. “We got to do a lot of these adventurous things together. We have to go on bike rides with him, go for walks with him. And (these) are memories that I will cherish forever.
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