A 17-year-old involved in a house fire on Tuesday morning in Suncoast Estates has died. The community is now mourning the loss of Nikola Knight.
Nikola, known as Nik to many, passed away last night in Bradenton, according to Bob Hulett, lead pastor at Bridge Community Church in Cape Coral. Since then, loved ones have begun receiving the heart-breaking news.
Credit: Tiffany Snyder
"We were hoping for him to have some sort of recovery," said Tiffany Snyder, whose son was best friends with Nikola. "We were praying for healing. It's definitely devastating hearing the news. He was a bright kid in the neighborhood. He was very, very delightful and losing him is a big loss for all of us, for the community, for his school and for his friends. It's a big loss."
Wednesday night, the church will hold a private event to provide grief counseling to students who knew Nikola. Across town, Nikola's Suncoast Estates neighborhood is shaken, mourning the loss of a young man they call a hero. His screams alerted neighbors to the fire, allowing them and others to call 911.
"He saved us," said Rebekah Chamberlain, who lives next door. "He saved my family. He will always, always have a special place in my heart."
"We didn't hear anything," added Colleen Welcher, who also lives next door. "The only thing that woke us up was him screaming and yelling and banging on a window nearby, and that got her up to see the fire. We didn't know if it was our house or next door. We all ran out and we all saw what happened. And if we didn't hear that... the fire was so close, it could have gotten our house. It could've got us."
Snyder shared memories of the young man, describing him as kind, loving and talented. She said he never turned down an opportunity to volunteer.
"My one son had fundraising to do, and Nikola joined in, and was one of the main workers, and had absolutely nothing to do with it," shared Snyder. "He was just a part of making things happen and making sure things got together."
Snyder shared Nikola was an incredible artist, wanted to join the Marines, and was always running with her son, who is also named Nick. They were known as "Nick squared" around the Suncoast Estates neighborhood. Nikola was like a son to Snyder.
"He'd always come to church with us," said Snyder. "He'd hang out at our house, just play video games with the boys, have sleepovers and stuff like that, come over for family dinners."
Snyder said Nikola was a student at Island Coast High School. Snyder, along with members of the community, are raising funds for Nikola's cremation with plans to give whatever money isn't used to his school as a donation.
"This is bringing us together, which just shows what kind of community this is," said Snyder. "You know, Nicola was the kind of person to bring people together. He was kind and caring. And I'm meeting kind and caring people now, you know? He's always going to be remembered, and he's bringing people together within the community."
While tonight's event at Bridge Community Church is private, Nikola's celebration of life will be open to the public. It is planned for Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m.