Help David rebuild his home after fire

Hello, my name is Sara Ospina. As some of you may already know, my brother David Ospina was a victim of a horrible apartment fire on January 18th, 2022. Fortunately, David was not home at the time, but due to the absence of any smoke detectors in the unit, the firefighters arrived at the scene too late to prevent a major loss.

This incident has not only rendered my brother homeless due to the significant amount of physical damage (see video below for reference), but worst of all 18 of his animals lost their lives in the fire. If you know David, then I don’t need to tell you how significant and soul-crushing this loss is for him. I’m starting this fundraiser to help my brother get back on his feet, rebuild his home, and care for the remaining 6 animals that miraculously survived the fire.

I understand these are trying times for everyone and money might be tight, but a little bit can go a long way and we will appreciate anything anyone can spare at the moment. We understand if this is not possible at the moment but if you would still like to help out, please share this page and help the word get out! Thank you so much!

 

 

 

Backstory on David:

 

David is a 23-year-old recent graduate from Cornell University where he majored in Animal Sciences. He has embodied what it means to be a true animal lover his whole life and has taken on several jobs that truly reveal that. These jobs include rescuing sea turtles with the New England Aquarium, diving into the aquarium's tank to feed the sharks , taking care of farm animals on his campus, conducting research on birds in Europe, and most notably spending all his free time working with the New England Reptile Distributors (NERD), where he found his true passion.

 

Ever since discovering NERD 8 years ago, he has devoted most of his time and efforts to caring for and being a HUGE advocate for a group of animals that are immensely misunderstood: reptiles. As someone who used to be terrified by the notion of a snake, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing David challenge the negative stigma and debunk the myths that surrounds these animals. During this time, David also curated his own reptile family that followed him through college and helped change the minds of many like myself who had their preconceived notions on reptiles like snakes. He spent a lot of time and effort making sure his animals had the best quality of life and once he moved back to Boston he finally put together his reptile room that maintained the optimal living conditions for them, which was no easy feat. He spent years saving up for the right enclosures, the right equipment, and traveling to different expos to get his animals. After all the trials and tribulations of finally creating the perfect home for his reptiles in the city, he lost it all in the fire. David now has to start from the ground up, starting with finding a place to live which all funds from this page will help do. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and please consider either donating or sharing this page!