Brent Keryluke and his wife, Nicole, along with their two children, Arielle and Liam, were a classic car enthusiast family with a 1973 Pontiac Parisienne sitting in their garage in Red Deer, Alberta.
While the children played in the back seat, Brent restored the car in hopes that one day, they would pass it onto the kids to drive and enjoy, says The Brighter Side of News in its story about the family.
“I’d stop by and Arielle and Liam would be in the back seat with an iPad and books and that’s where they spent a lot of time while he was under the hood,” Brent’s father told Canadian news station Global News.
After a tragic motorcycle accident in which both Brent and Nicole lost their lives, Brent’s parents, Ben and Marilyn, became the children’s guardians.
Both children have hearing loss and use hearing aids, so to help pay for the medical bills, the grandparents made the tough decision to sell the car. They reached out to EG Auctions to list the car.
“When Liam and his grandpa walked into the show office, EG owner Lyndsay Payne told Global News, “I knew that when I saw that little boy and his grandpa that we were going to do everything we could to help them out. Certainly waive any fee.”
Before the Pontiac’s auction began, the family was invited onto the sales block to share their story.
“They basically stopped the auction, let everybody know what was happening, where the money was going to go, and then we were shocked what happened after that,” the grandfather told Global News.
Selling for $29,000, the car was quickly donated back to be auctioned again, selling a second time, and for $30,000. The second buyer donated also it back, and it sold for another $20,000.
“People were cheering, I was crying, our auctioneer Rod had a hard time getting through it because he was crying, he was emotional,” Payne is quoted.
While the three auctions were taking place, others in the crowd started making donations for the family, rounding up the final donation to around $100,000.
After the auction ended, the new owner of the Pontiac found the Kerylukes and gave the car back to the family.
“Maybe someday that young man will drive his father’s car,” the buyer said.
Such a sad story with a great ending! I hope the children love the car for what it stands for and the hard work their father put into it with love!