Family Hosts Memorial Golf Tournament To Honour Their Five-Year-Old Son Passing Away From Golf Cart Accident

UPDATED: 9 p.m. 23-07-23

A tragic golf cart incident that resulted in the life of five-year-old William Gardner has got his family to create a memorial golf tournament to honour him at Bellmere Winds Golf Resort.

(from left to right) Elizabeth, Aurora, William and Matt Gardner. The family had lived overseas for the past 15 years and often came back during the summer season. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Gardner.

The William Rock Gardner Golf Memorial tournament in Keene is slated for July 29 and will run from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. with prizes and draws from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The incident occurred a year ago. The Gardner family and their two friends were at the lower half of Bellemere to play sports and at the splash pad. They were travelling in a golf cart going downhill as it started to accelerate with the brakes failing.

After the cart swayed out of control, it flipped and ejected all the passengers onto the roadside according to Elizabeth Gardner, William’s mother. He sustained massive head trauma and was airlifted to SickKids Hospital. The parents and their friends had sustained injuries (with the latter taking the year off to recover) from the incident and were treated at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC). His seven-year-old sister Aurora was unharmed during the accident but had feelings of guilt and shame as the only sibling to survive said Elizabeth.

“Our family at that time knew everything was changing and I laid on the roadside trying to keep him breathing,” she explained.

All photos courtesy of Elizabeth Gardner.

The family visited William at SickKids and made the difficult decision to let him go due to the severe brain damage he suffered.

“After saying goodbye to William, both my husband and I were admitted to Peterborough Hospital due to our injuries,” explained Elizabeth. “I ended up staying in Peterborough Hospital for over a month recovering and planning my son’s funeral.”

Despite the unfortunate series of events, the family bears no ill will towards anyone and is grateful for the care that they received.

“Sick Kids Hospital and Peterborough Regional Health Centre were extremely supportive during our darkest days,” explained Elizabeth. “These golf tournaments will be in support of both of those institutions.”

The police report determined that the mishap was an accident due to the golf cart’s malfunction according to Elizabeth. Bellemere Winds had offered their golf resort to host the memorial tournament.

“We are still devastated from everything but cannot thank the Bellmere owners enough for pushing for this golf tournament,” said Elizabeth. “We are thankful we can honour William, as memories and events like these keep him alive.”

William was three weeks short of celebrating his fifth birthday upon his passing. He was entering kindergarten that September.

“He was a little boy with a great sense of humour and loved to run around in his bare feet,” said Elizabeth. “William loved all kids and above all loved playing with anybody but especially his sister Aurora.”

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.