One of the hottest days of this chilly summer season claimed the life of a Warwick boy in a tragic accident. This week, his father talks about the loss for the first time.

 

Street Stories takes you to North Providence where Jamie Lymburner’s little brother could hit a ball a country mile.

 

“From the time he got up to the time he went to bed,” James Lymburner tells us. “You were moving. You were going.”

 

They called him ‘maniac’ as he would tumble out of the pool, down stairs, over the walk way, through the grass and onto the swing set. 55 pounds of lets go play; James Arthur Lymburner.

 

“It just stuck with him. We always called him James Arthur. His doctor on his medical report wrote active and in parentheses, very.”

 

Tears well up as he thinks back to the day he lost James Arthur.

 

“Every parent tries to keep their kids as safe as possible but it would boggle your mind to think your child would be gone just like that.”

 

‘Just like that’ hit on June seventh. James Arthur went out to play in a car at his mother’s house in Warwick on a hot day and he never made it out.

 

“We miss him every day. Especially Jamie because Jamie and James were like that,” he says as he snaps his fingers. “They were inseparable.”

 

About that time, Jamie looks out the window at us and smiles as her dad coaxes a smile.

 

“I always tell my kids to be brave and strong. Breathe in for brave and breathe out for strong. And I see it when they cry and I hold them. Be brave and strong.”

 

Brave and strong is tough. So, every so often, dad needs a little help from James Arthur.

 

“I just tell him that I miss him and that it’s not the same without him. I mean he was a force in this family. He wasn’t just a little boy. He was energy.” 

 

Sometimes the energy is still here.

 

“He used to hold my ears with two hands.”

 

One day, James was looking at some pictures and missing that big little boy.

 

“And I felt the pressure on both of my ears like he always used to do it. Like he was telling me he was here.”

 

James Arthur’s family and friends are holding a fundraiser to help pay for his medical bills and the cost of laying him to rest.  To find out more, you can email James’ sister at loralee0102@aol.com

 

Take a look at the video version of this Street Story by clicking on this link.

 

http://www.wpri.com/subindex/on_air/street_stories

 

 

And as always, your comments and ideas are welcome.