'Feels like a nightmare': Blackville community shattered by death of 14-year-old boy

Many of those in the small village of Blackville, N.B., spent the long weekend grieving following the death of 14-year-old Thomas Anthony Dunn on Saturday. 

RCMP say the teen's dirt bike collided with a car on Friday around 5:30 p.m. He was taken to hospital, but succumbed to his injuries the next day. 

On Sunday, several teens rode their own dirt bikes in Sunday's Canada Day parade as a tribute to Dunn. 

• 14-year-old boy on life support after collision in Blackville, N.B.
• Grief counsellors available at Blackville School on Monday

Emily Hallihan, Dakota Curtis, Kensen Brennan and Amber Walls were all friends with the teen. 

"He is one of my best friends, he was always such a sweetheart and so nice. He always made you laugh when you felt down," the girls said together, finishing each other's sentences through tears. "He always lit up the room. Even though he tormented you that was his way of telling that he loved you.

"It just feels like a nightmare that we didn't wake up from yet."

Grief counsellors and teachers were available at Blackville School Monday.

'Our village has taken such a hit'

Ed Gilchrist, a father of one of Dunn's friends, said many of the kids in the community have been together since they heard about the collision. And parents are struggling to talk about it, he said.

"How do you tell a 14-year-old kid how to deal with this? We shouldn't be telling our kids that their classmate is gone," he said. "It's heart-wrenching for us. We're just here for our kids, that's all we can do right now."

It's been a tragic year for the community as two other youths died in separate incidents.

Roxanne Hallihan, another parent, said Blackville has to stick together.

"Our village has taken such a hit," she said. ​"Right now all we're doing is letting our kids grieve together, saying lots of prayers and sending lots of love."