Daniel Delisle GoFundMe raises over $8000 as community rallies around 65-year-old Canadian man devastated after tree fell on his home

A Pointe Calumet man is stunned after a tree removal operation went terribly wrong, toppling the residence he rented for more than 20 years. Now, the 65-year-old Daniel Delisle is living in a small trailer and is dependent on the generosity of his community.

A GoFundMe campaign in his name has collected more than $11,000, which will be used to help him get back on his feet following the tragedy.

According to CTV News, the incident happened on June 23 as a professional tree-cutting crew was working to take down a tree from Delisle’s property in preparation for planned renovations. Instead of dropping away from the house as it should have, the tree fell onto the roof and brought down the second floor onto the first.

"When I got home the tree was on top of the house. It was utterly shocking to see. I have cried so much since then, and I am still crying about it," Daniel Delisle said in a recent interview.

'My life is over': his house destroyed by a huge tree during a botched felling
The huge tree fell directly on Daniel Delisle's house in Pointe-Calumet

"Footage filmed by his neighbor Steven Henry shows workers cutting down the tree at the base of its trunk. However, when the cut… https://t.co/gNdFmWWA19 pic.twitter.com/hfcDZ9XRKV

— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) June 30, 2025

Differently-abled since age 18 and living on a small pension, Delisle supposedly had no insurance or emergency savings to replace the loss.

He and his girlfriend are now living in a $300 a month trailer near the ravaged home, waiting for the cleanup to get underway. The family had three days of emergency accommodation, which was provided by the Red Cross, but their future is now unclear.

More about the community’s support to Daniel Delisle through GoFundMe, as neighbor recalls the accident

Daniel Delisle’s neighbor, Steven Henry, captured the tree falling on camera as it happened. Henry said the idea was to pull the tree in the other direction with a loader and a cable. But there was a miscommunication, and the tree fell in the wrong direction.

Henry said blame for the accident is currently being passed around the tree removal workers, the landlord, and the insurance company. He said that Delisle was “a great guy” and had put a lot of work into trying to fix up the house, but that there were ongoing problems, including local flooding in recent years.

"I have known Daniel for many years and he’s a really nice guy. He worked so hard to renovate that house," Henry said.

After the disaster, the couple set up a GoFundMe campaign to assist them in rebuilding their lives. The campaign, titled “Nous avons tout perdu” (“We have lost everything”), explains that the couple is without insurance and needs help to furnish their planned new home and meet their basic needs.

"We are both 65 years old. We had no insurance and no security fund since we live off what we have (pensions). We are asking for your help to reach our goal... We are well aware of the current economic challenges and understand that it is not easy to ask for help." Daniel Delisle wrote in his campaign bio.

More than $11,000 has been donated so far, offering a glimmer of light as Delisle will face a long road to recovery. According to reports, a team of demolition workers is due in the next few days to start clearing the rubble.