The young victim who was stabbed in Batchewana First Nation earlier this week is not going to survive his injuries, according to “absolutely heartbroken” family members.
Brandan Pellow, a 19-year-old Heyden resident with ties to the Sault, has been declared brain dead and will be on life support in Sudbury until Monday for the purposes of organ donation.
As readers learned yesterday, Pellow was found in a Gran Street parking lot with stab wounds around 3:30 a.m. on July 30.
Two teens, aged 16 and 17, face aggravated assault charges related to the incident.
Nikki Bourdage, who is Pellow’s aunt and the spokesperson for the family, told SooToday he was a stoic young man with good morals and loved to help everybody — even up until his final moments.
“He just gave his life protecting a girl,” Bourdage said. “She was having problems and he was just trying to help her. Like any teenager, he’s made his mistakes while learning, but nothing that warranted this.”
While Pellow knew the two individuals facing charges, “he was not friends with them,” according to Bourdage.
She noted that her nephew was stabbed in the chest, which prompted a surgery to repair his heart at Sault Area Hospital. He was then transported to Sudbury and was cared for by a heart specialist before several tests and scans revealed he was brain dead.
A registered organ donor, Pellow will undergo a transplant procedure on Monday after his family says their final goodbyes.
His liver and kidney will be donated to two recipients.
Pellow, who loved fishing, boxing and the outdoors, had just gotten a job with Twin Equipment & Tool Rentals in Goulais River last month which he was "very excited about," according to Bourdage.
“He was just starting life,” she said tearfully. “He had his own job, making his own money. He was even talking about looking for his own apartment.”
Pellow will be missed by his parents Rosanna Law and Jonathan, as well as his younger sister Sarah.
The family would like to thank all the staff at Sault Area Hospital and Health Sciences North in Sudbury for their care, as well as the first responders, detectives and OPP officials who have been involved in the case.
“Everyone in the community has been absolutely wonderful,” Bourdage said. “They’ve all just been amazing.”
Bourdage wants to advise readers not to reach out to the immediate family at this time, but to instead direct any condolences and messages to the contacts listed on the GoFundMe page.
SooToday is awaiting an update from OPP on the ongoing investigation and whether the criminal charges laid against the two suspects will be upgraded.
The identities of the teenagers charged in the attack cannot be published under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.