BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — After one Boulder musician lost it all in the Marshall Fire, music seemed like a distant memory. But generous Denver7 viewers rewrote the future.
"I've been trying to approach it from a glass-half-full standpoint thinking maybe everything's not gone," Wyatt Russell said immediately after the Marshall Fire, which burned in Superior, Louisville and Boulder County in December.
Though he hoped for the best, everything was gone.
Russell's home was one of more than 1,000 destroyed or damaged in the Marshall Fire. None of his belongings inside the home were salvageable, including some of his most prized possessions.
Russell works full time in one industry but performed music as a side gig, which sometimes brought in extra cash.
"Records, drums, recording equipment, symbols... that aren't made anymore," he said. "Snare drums that aren't made anymore."
Even four months later, the shock of the circumstances remain for Russell.
"That fire was just so fast and so intense and I'm just really grateful that I got out of there when I did... because if I had stayed maybe 10 to 15 minutes more, I would have had to run out," he said.
Despite his losses, he's grateful his life was spared.
Now, he finds even more gratitude because of generous Denver7 viewers.
This month, the Denver7 Gives fund gifted Russell a new Mapex drum kit.
Russell said the kit is exactly what he needed to play and record music at home.
"There's a ton of good people left... giving people, caring people, compassionate people and I'm very grateful for those people. So thankful," he said.
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