A Texas city helped a 5 year-old boy celebrate his birthday after both his parents died of COVID-19

• Raiden Gonzalez, five, enjoyed a parade and a fire truck ride for his birthday.
• It was a temporary reprieve for the boy, whose father died of COVID-19 in June and whose mother died from the disease in October.
• Raiden's grandmother, who is taking care of him, hopes that people will stay aware of the risk of the pandemic.

The community in San Antonio, Texas came together to make a five-year-old's birthday extra special after the boy lost both of his parents to COVID-19.

Raiden Gonzalez turned five on November 22, and the next week the city fire department, Batman, Santa, and Mrs. Claus and dinosaurs showed up to help him celebrate with a drive-by birthday parade.

The response was touching for a family that has been devastated by the pandemic, Raiden's great aunt, Margie Bryant, told Good Morning America.

"Everyone, including Raiden, was just overwhelmed with joy," she said. "We were overwhelmed with the response from the community."

The parade was a welcome, if temporary, distraction for Raiden, who was worried about turning five less than eight weeks after his mother's death.

"He was sad he wasn't going to be able to celebrate because he doesn't have a mom and dad, and I told him, 'No, we're going to have a drive-by parade for you,'" Bryant said.

Initially the party was going to be for family and friends, but Ryan Thor, who organized a GoFundMe for Raiden, shared the invite on the page.

"It would mean so much if everyone could show up and celebrate," he wrote. "Thank you all for your kindness through this time."

In June, Raiden's father, Adan Gonzalez, died of COVID-19 after spending weeks in the hospital. The family believes that he contracted the virus at his job as a truck driver. At first, Gonzalez thought that his symptoms were allergies, but a few days later he tested positive for the coronavirus, Bryant told GMA.

"It was very rapid," she said, adding that he had recently passed a physical required by his job, and didn't have any preexisting conditions.

A few months later Raiden's mother, Mariah Gonzalez, left the house in an ambulance. She died from COVID-19 the next day at just 29 years old. That left Raiden in the care of his maternal grandmother, Rozie Salinas.

Bryant told GMA that the Gonzalez parents did their best to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19. But as a truck driver and a preschool teacher, they were required to work outside the home. Salinas told GMA she hopes that people will learn from her family's heartbreak and loss, and continue to stay vigilant about the dangers of the coronavirus as the pandemic drags on.