Mrs. Newman’s husband died in 1998, at age 49, of cancer. She says, “Heather is now with the first man she ever gave her heart to — her dad.”

Upon hearing of the tragedy, the Emergency Children’s Help Organization (E.C.H.O.), a Charleston-based charity, contacted Mrs. Newman through mutual friends to offer monetary assistance.

Yesterday, at the Advance office in Grasmere, the grieving grandmother was presented with a check for $20,000 by six of E.C.H.O.’s board members.

Sebastian Angelico, who founded E.C.H.O. four years ago, along with a group of diverse executive board members who pledged their support of sick children whose families find themselves in financial distress, stated: “We realize that nothing can ever fill the void left in their hearts, but hopefully E.C.H.O.’s assistance will ease their financial burden a bit.”