On Thursday the bereaved mother of Jay Slater, the teenager whose disappearance in Tenerife made headlines across the world, updated the fundraising appeal launched to bring him home. When the grim news arrived, the focus of the crowdfunder turned from happy homecoming to a final goodbye; the boy’s mother Debbie Duncan urged people to continue donating and sharing to give her son “the send-off he deserves”. To date, the amount raised from well-wishers tops £66,000.
Grief is a disorientating and cruel process, particularly for those forced to endure it under public scrutiny, and as such Duncan’s actions are entirely understandable. More perplexing, though, is why so many members of the public continue to give large sums, despite the total far exceeding ordinary repatriation and funeral costs.
In this, the “Get Jay Slater Home” donors are not alone: a crowdfunder set up for the families of the victims in the immediate aftermath of the deadly shooting at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania initially sought to raise $1 million. But, galvanised by a national sense of shock and anger, not to mention good ol’ American patriotism, as of Friday $6 million had poured in. However, as with so many of these crowdfunders, it is unclear exactly how the fund will be administered or what the practical benefits will be.
