3 Cheers: Rebecca Burmeff Spreads Fighting Spirit Of Her Late Son 'Dutch Destroyer'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Rebecca Burmeff loves talking about her son, Lukas Kusters.
"He's just the strongest person I knew," she said. "He's just a wonderful boy. He was fearless."
Thanks to a special friendship with Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles, and prime seating at Monday's game, Lukas' story was broadcast to the world.
"It's been wonderful and overwhelming and we're just blessed for everything that's happened in the past week," Burmeff said.
So far, more than 20,000 orders have been placed for bracelets featuring Lukas' "Dutch Destroyer" football nickname, raising 142,000 for the non-profit the family is setting up in Lukas' honor.
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The family lost Lukas in June, just days after his 10th birthday. The haze of grief can be a disorienting place but the "Dutch Destroyer" project has acted as a compass.
"Every day without him feels impossible," Burmeff said. "It's a really dark, horrible place when you lose a child. I don't always get up every day and function but I try. I focus on the kids and we have a lot of support but this is a reason to get up, to reach people with this."
This is a mother still fiercely loving her son and honoring his life by trying to give hope to others.
It was hope that strangers and loved ones gifted to her family in their time of need, leading to an almost unbelievable lesson in the wake of unthinkable loss.
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"What I've gotten from this, from this whole experience, from when Lukas was diagnosed to current, with everything horrible that's going on in the world, there's so much good," Burmeff said. "There's so much good and you don't always see that but we have sure seen that and felt that."
And now she'll pass it along in honor of the "Dutch Destroyer." For that, Rebecca Burmeff gets three cheers.