It's been dark and gloomy all day. Another rainy day. It should be a bit colder, and than all this rain would be falling as snow. A most unusual winter this year, with extreme cold and snow in November, and here in December we've been having November weather. Most peculiar. There are times, though, when precipitation falling as snow on cold winter days can be life-threatening, particularly driving on highways.

On Wednesday there was a blinding snowstorm on the 401 that caused a number of huge multiple-vehicle pile-ups, and in one of those crashes that took place that fateful day, the life of one unfortunate 33-year-old man from Kingston was snuffed out.

Jack Moon, 33, was killed Wednesday in a massive pileup on Highway 401. jpg

While Ottawa received rain, it was a different story on the 401 with the sudden appearance of snow squalls off Lake Ontario, occluding visibility on the 401 entirely. This is what took the life of Jack Moon. He made the short trip from Kingston, his home, to Ottawa to try to renew his passport which had been lost in a fire that engulfed his home on December 1st. He wanted to try to fast-track the passport to enable his entry to the U.S.

The fire that destroyed the home he, his pregnant wife, their three children and his mother called home also destroyed everything the family owned. Fortunately, no one happened to be home at the time the fire broke out. And then, a few days after the fire the family's 15-year-old dog died of old age. The family now lives in rented accommodation.

In Ottawa, the young man was informed it would be at least ten days for his passport to be renewed; something about the replacement of his birth certificate, the original of which was also destroyed in the fire. So he knew that his hopes to be able to fast-track a passport renewal wasn't going to happen. And that being the case the trip his family had planned, to take the children to Disneyland as a family Christmas celebration wasn't going to happen.

There are times when the world just seems to close in on you and everything seems too much to bear. An experienced truck driver who worked for the City of Kingston, he had recently opened a business of his own as the owner-operator of Blue Moon Karaoke and DJ Service. On its website, he stated he was available for part-time work of any kind.

The young father left Ottawa, disappointed that his family's plans for Christmas had to be abandoned. And then his vehicle, along with another 21 passenger cars and 25 trucks driving helplessly through those snow squalls with virtually no visibility became involved in seven different collisions that marked a six-kilometre stretch of the highway. In the mass collision that Jack Moon had the misfortune to be part of, he parted with his life.

His aching losses now no longer bedevil him. His fourth child is due in April and he won't be there to celebrate with his wife and family. Neighbours, family and friends had initially after the fire, contributed donations of clothing, furniture and cash for the homeless family. To keep their heads above water in the short term.

His sister-in-law set up a GoFundMe campaign post-fire, its goal $5,000. That campaign has been updated and within hours of the update the fund surged to $40,000 and soon reached $80,000. By Saturday, 4344 people had responded to the plea for financial support for this distraught and devastated family. The total had reached $217,751. The GoFundMe campaign link is at: gofundme.com/f/support-my-sister 039s-family.

Jack Moon was killed in a crash on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019.

 "This tragedy for my sister has unfortunately gotten worse. For anyone who had donated it has been greatly appreciated and I know Jack was very thankful along with the rest of the family. At this time any donations are going to be even more appreciated as yesterday unexpectedly they have lost Jack in a car accident and my sister is now having to figure things out without him in their lives. If all you can do is keep them in your thoughts and prayers that's amazing. They can use all the help they can get at this time. Thank you on behalf of my sister and the children."