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Loving Legos: Keeping a child’s memory alive

Posted at 10:56 PM, Oct 12, 2015
and last updated 2015-10-12 22:56:47-04

JAMESTOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- The death of an 8-year-old boy is sparking a nationwide effort to help keep his memory alive. With Legos.

In June, Austin Lotterman died of his injuries after he was hit crossing a street. Witnesses said they saw Austin run toward the road and look to the right before crossing the street. But he never looked to the left, and he was hit by a car coming from that direction.

Now Austin's family is piecing their lives back together with the help of Austin's favorite Lego toys. They have placed them around the area as a gift for children who find them.

Austin's passion gave them the idea of packaging tiny Lego men attached with the message, "Loving Legos, Remembering Austin."

"And they can contact us on our Facebook page to let us know they got them. We thought that would be a special way to remember Austin," said Russ.

"As parents who have lost a child, you want nothing more than your child to be remembered and to talk about him, and to have other people remember him," said Karisa Lotterman, Austin's mother.

Austin's father, Russ, said his son's favorite thing in the world was Legos. "We got him a set for Christmas, and he would just dump all of them into his box and make new creations out of sets. He loved Legos," said Russ.

The idea to remember Austin with Legos has sparked interest from Italy, Germany, and England, sharing a little boy's story with the world while finding hope in tomorrow.

"Mostly our strength and faith in God has gotten us through this, and we continue to feel him every day," said Russ.

Following that crash, the Lottermans told FOX 17 that they don't blame that driver for what happened and they are thankful the driver tried to help Austin at the scene. Police said there won't be any charges in that crash, calling it a tragic  freak accident.