‘A free spirit’: mom speaks out after son, 11, with severe autism dies in Oshawa trailer fire
CBC
A boy with severe autism who died in a fire in Oshawa earlier this month was a joyful and friendly child who loved dancing to Disney songs and playing dress up, his mother said.
Bentley Dunn, 11, was found dead inside a trailer that had caught fire on Oct. 18.
“He loved to run around and be free, he was very much a free spirit,” said his mother, Amanda Dunn.
Bentley was staying with his father when the fire broke out, Dunn said. While they are separated, she said they had a strong co-parenting relationship.
Dunn said Bentley was always happy and found joy in playing in pools and the sand. He gave hugs freely and enjoyed greeting people in his school hallways.
“He always loved to play with his stuffed animals because he didn’t have a lot of friends because of his autism,” Dunn said.
“He would line them all up and tuck them into bed.”
Every night, Bentley slept with the blankets he’d had since he was baby — which were lost in the fire, Dunn said.
Bentley, who was non-verbal, loved school and particularly enjoyed gym class. He also enjoyed attending Nova’s Ark camp in Whitby, which is inclusive to children with autism.
“It was a space for Bentley to be himself without people judging him,” she said.
Bentley enjoyed dancing and encouraging others to copy his moves, she said. He often skipped to the end credits of Disney movies — particularly Moana 2 and Frozen — so that he could dance to the music that played behind them.
But Bentley had also recently gravitated toward rock music. When Dunn last saw her son, she said she drove him to school and they rocked out to Thanks for the Memories by Fall Out Boy.
“I could see in the rearview mirror that he was watching me very closely because I was singing all the words to him,” she said.
Bentley’s father was recently released from the hospital and is still recovering from injuries related to the fire, Dunn said. Those include injuries to his hand as he tried to punch holes into the trailer to get inside and rescue his son, she said.
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