A 10-year-old blind boy from California who once played with Travis Barker lost his home in a fire in Eaton, Los Angeles.
Grayson Roberts — who was born legally blind due to a chromosomal disorder — lived with his mother, Terica Roberts, and two brothers in Altadena, according to local news outlet KTLA 5 .
Tericia told the outlet that the sky above their home turned red as the fire spread on Tuesday, January 7. The family then smelled smoke and saw flames in the nearby mountains when they stepped outside their front door.
“Given the speed with which the wind was blowing, I knew we had to go,” Terica recalled.
She said she and her children grabbed whatever they could before evacuating. The next day they discovered that their house was gone.
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In a Jan. 17 Instagram video shared by the nonprofit Big Talk, an organization currently trying to help victims of the LA wildfires, Grayson described the moments leading up to his family being forced from their home and the impact tragedy affected his life.
“I lost all my Braille stuff, my Legos, my instruments,” said the aspiring drummer, before adding that the hardest part of the experience wasn’t losing his stuff, but his neighborhood.
“I just love where we lived,” Grayson said.
According to a GoFundMe set up for the Roberts family, Grayson — who has undergone 37 surgeries to improve his vision — is known for his big smile and positive energy. He sells lemonade to fund his dreams of traveling the world, and in 2024 he raised enough money to buy 200 canes for the blind in Ghana.
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Grayson’s positivity caught the attention of musician and LA native Travis Barker in the summer of 2023. The Blink-182 drummer surprised Grayson while outside selling lemonade, and the pair ended up playing together.
The Eaton fire — which burned alongside several other large fires in Southern California in January — is now considered the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history, according to CNN. Authorities estimate more than 7,000 homes and businesses were destroyed in the community of Altadena as it burned through, according to the outlet.
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In addition to a GoFundMe set up for the Roberts family, a donation page has been created to help them rebuild their lives after the fire.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education