Jack Murray. Photo:
Courtesy of Paul Murray
- Jack Murray, 12, of Weymouth, Mass., collided into a tree while skiing in New Hampshire on Dec. 31 and died as a result of his injuries
- The family set up a GoFundMe in their loved one’s memory, raising $106,000 for his school band
- “People always found comfort and being safe around Jack,” his father Paul Murray tells us
The family of a Massachusetts boy who died in a tragic skiing accident in New Hampshire less than two months ago is channeling their grief into making a difference.
Twelve-year-old Jack Murray died on Dec. 31 after accidentally colliding with a tree on Cranmore Mountain while skiing with his dad, Paul Murray, and two other people. According to the Conway Police Department, the boy was reported as unconscious and authorities administered CPR. He was later transported to a local hospital where he died as a result of his injuries.
In the weeks since the unimaginable loss, Jack’s family has been finding a way to honor his legacy. Paul, his wife Crystal and their younger son Finley, 6, describe their emotions as “still pretty fresh,” but they’ve recently channeled their grief into creating something positive: starting a GoFundMein his honor that raised funds for Jack’s school band. The family felt that the fundraiser would serve a better purpose for people to donate rather than buying flowers that would eventually end up in the trash.
In less than a month, the GoFundMe page had raised over $100,000, eventually reaching up to $106,000 as of Feb. 7.
Jack Murray.
Courtesy of Paul Murray
“We never could have imagined in a million years that this would’ve gone to over a hundred thousand dollars,” Paul tells PEOPLE. “That was a pleasant surprise, and [it] was the opportunity to do a lot of good for a lot of kids for several years to come.”
According to his obituary, Jack, whose interests included painting and music, attended Maria Weston Chapman Middle School in Weymouth, Mass., where he was a member of the band playing trombone and drums.
“He started out with the trombone and then switched to drums, which he was having a lot of fun with,” Paul says. “They had a big holiday concert right before the winter break. It was his first kind of big performance on drums, and he was super nervous about it, but really excited.”
Paul remembers his son as “an incredibly kind, loving, fun, bright, shining person.”
“Everybody gravitated towards him, whether it was little kids or people his own age or adults,” he says. “He just had this sort of way about him. He had these unique relationships with people all over the place.”
Jack Murray.
Courtesy of Paul Murray
Recalling one special memory, Paul shared that one day when he was with his son, then 11, at a shopping mall, they encountered a 3-year-old girl who briefly walked away from her parents.
“She walked up to Jack, and she just went up to him and she said, ‘Hey, I like you. My name is so-and-so. Can I hold your hand?’ He was just like, ‘Sure, I like you too.’ They just stood there and held hands. She just talked to him and started pointing out the shoes on the wall that she liked, and he just smiled and held her hand and chatted with her.”
“Then her dad came running around the corner right after her and he was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry.’ It was like, ‘No, no, she’s great. She wanted to hang out with Jack.’ That’s just the type of thing where people always found comfort and safety around Jack.”
And Paul and his family are channeling Jack’s positivity as they move forward.
“It’s hard to stay optimistic, but it’s something that he did so well,” Paul says. “He did it for so many people. So I think that idea of caring about people, looking out for people and being a safe space for people, that kind of energy that he brought is something we really hope to try to hold onto as best we can.”
Jack Murray.
Courtesy of Paul Murray
The Murray family is in the midst of returning to their routine after their tremendous loss.
“It’s still pretty fresh for us,” Paul says of Jack’s death. “We’re just starting to get back to some everyday life — my younger son returning to school [and] my wife and I returning to work. So I’m still definitely very much in the early stages of understanding and processing and figuring out life after Jack.”
The Murray family has a vacation home up in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, Paul says, and regularly goes skiing. At the time of the accident on New Year’s Eve last year, Jack and Paul were at Cranamore to ski during the holiday break accompanied by Paul’s niece and brother-in-law.
“We were on the first run of the day and halfway down a blue trail, which was well within [Jack’s] capability,” says Paul. “He was a strong skier and has been skiing for seven years, since he was five years old. He’s not a huge risk taker. He’s not a hot dogger.”
Paul was fixing his own boot while his niece fell from her snowboard and the brother-in-law assisted her. Meanwhile, Jack skied ahead. By the time Paul and others headed down, Jack went off the trail and had collided into the tree.
“Nobody saw the accident,” Paul says. “Based on where we found him, he wasn’t very far off the trail. He must’ve just lost a little bit of control and slid off. He had the correct safety gear on and helmet and everything. Everything equipment-wise was in the right place. The conditions were fine — just sort of a momentary one-in-a-million accident.”
Finley and Jack Murray.
Courtesy of Paul Murray
Paul also remembers his son as a caring older brother to 6-year-old Finley despite the large age difference.
“Jack was such a patient and loving and good big brother that he would include his brother in things and make sure that he got his chance,” he says. “He always looked out for him. He was definitely the big brother protector, but he could also needle and agitate his brother as much as two kids the same age.”
In addition to his love of music, Jack was also a budding entrepreneur in his community, according to his dad. “We live within walking distance of a small town square: a lot of small local businesses and restaurants and bakeries and coffee shops. He went out and tried to sell his cookies. He and his friend would go up into the library near our house and draw caricatures of people for a dollar.”
Jack even set up an eBay store to resell thrift items, recalls Paul, adding that his boy also created a Shopify account for his own T-shirt line, “He’d come up with an idea, and he pushed it as far as he could go. Then he’d turn around and ask for help and support. You’d just like to see that kind of hustle and creativity.”
In an update on the GoFundMe page, Paul told donors that he and his wife planned to work with the local schools to help “plan a multi-year budget” with the donations made in Jack’s honor that will “provide access and opportunity for music to Weymouth students for many years to come.”
“Thank you again for helping us ensure that even though Jack is no longer here he will still be positively impacting his community as he did during his life,” Paul wrote.
