NEW BERLIN, Wis. — It's been one year since the Perelman family's world was turned upside down.
"Every day is a new struggle. In the morning you open your eyes and it's not a dream," said Benny Perelman, Daniel's dad.
Their son, 18-year-old Daniel Perelman, who was a student pilot, died while on a solo flight crashing in a Wauwatosa neighborhood.
"It's a bit scary that it's already been a year," said Benny. "It went by quick. If you had asked me a year ago, I couldn't even imagine how we would be, how we would function."
Since his death, the Perelmans have been working endlessly to keep Daniel's memory alive by creating a non-profit called Daniel Gives Back. Through it, they've hosted blood drives, created scholarships, held fundraisers, and more.
"It's all for the purpose of connecting with Daniel and his name, and his memory and what he represented," said Benny.
Daniel's sister Lola is heading the Student Organ Donation Advocates program at her high school next year in honor of her big brother, who signed up to be a donor. His organs went to four people when he died.
"I know he'd want everybody who is able to do it too. It feels good because it's like I'm doing the work he wasn't able to do yet," said Lola.
The family is also pushing to raise awareness surrounding aviation safety.
We don't know frankly what happened, we may never know," said Benny. "Either way you look at it, if it was poor maintenance it's wrong. If it was his error, whatever it is, we definitely want to push for change or improvement. We cannot really change yesterday, but we can impact tomorrow."
And they say this is just the beginning
"We have plans for the future, we want to make sure that it will be thriving and that's our way to keep the memory alive," said Daniel's mom, Ana Perelman
The family will be holding a memorial service and monument unveiling for Daniel on Sunday, May 28 at Mound Zion Cemetery at 11 a.m. It is open to the public. A reception will follow at 12 p.m. at the Chabad of Waukesha-Brookfield.
If you'd like to donate to or sign up for an event with the Daniel Gives Back Foundation, click here.
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