Everything about the Highland Park parade shooting on July 4th was a tragedy—seven lives were senselessly lost to gun violence, just as so many others were lost before them. In the past two months alone, we’ve lived through the horror of mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde, Tulsa, and many, many more. But among all that devastation, one story emerging from Highland Park felt especially gut-wrenching to parents everywhere: the two-year-old survivor who became an orphan in the blink of an eye.
Toddler Aiden McCarthy was found wandering alone in the aftermath of the shooting, miraculously unhurt. Dana and Gregory Ring were both at the parade that day and told ABC News that another woman stopped them and asked if they could help Aiden find his family—she herself was in too much shock to care for the boy.
“Every time I tried to ask him what his name was, the response he gave to me was, ‘Mama, Dada come get me soon. Mommy’s car come to get me soon,'” Dana Ring said on GMA. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to think of the pain and confusion the little boy must have been feeling in that moment—pain that will only grow over time as he realizes his parents, Irina and Kevin McCarthy, aren’t coming home.
The Rings took care of Aiden for a few hours amid the chaos, until the scene calmed down enough for police to help reunite the boy with his grandparents. They will now have the unimaginable task of caring for and raising Aiden through their own deep grief for Irina and Kevin.
A woman who set up a GoFundMe for the family said the little boy will get all the support he deserves. “He will have a long road ahead to heal, find stability, and ultimately navigate life as an orphan. He is surrounded by a community of friends and extended family that will embrace him with love, and any means available to ensure he has everything he needs as he grows.”
Two days after the shooting, that fundraiser had amassed more than two million dollars.
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