Memorial held for 4-year-old boy killed by bus in Horseshoe Bay

The family and friends of a boy who was struck and killed by a transit bus at Horseshoe Bay gathered for a memorial in Vancouver Saturday.

Four-year-old Leonardo was hit alongside his mother, Silvana Schramm — who survived but spent the last four months in the hospital — on May 28.

Leonardo’s father, Clineu Machado, took time to remember his son at the event, which was held at Holy Rosary Cathedral.

“He was a happy camper…always smiling, ready to go out, except when it was raining,” Machado said. “But when it was sunny, dry, like today, he grabbed my hand or Silvana’s hand and hounded us to the door.”

Machado says the funeral was delayed so that the boy’s mother could attend.

“It’s going to be a difficult moment for me, for Silvana,” he said.

“I asked her if she wanted to postpone a little bit more, she said no, we need closure.”

A GoFundMe campaign has raised almost $200,000 for the funeral and Leonardo’s mother’s medical bills.

Last week, Silvana shared that although she is slowly becoming whole again physically, she says that there will always be a missing piece of her heart. While she didn’t learn the truth about her son’s death until two months after the incident, she says she has felt her little boy’s presence ever since.

“I could feel that he’s helped me heal,” she said.

She also said the family was still searching for answers from the ongoing investigation into the crash, saying the institutions designed to help have failed them.

“Translink didn’t help, ICBC didn’t help,” she said. “You know, this is crazy.”

— With files from Joe Sadowski.