Left an orphan and a cripple, he was brought up by his stepmother who on a special feast day, when Gemma was six years old, took him to the shrine of St Boniface in Dokkum.
Levý sirotek a mrzák, byl vychován jeho nevlastní matka kteří na zvláštní svátek den, kdy Gemma, šest let, vzal ho do kaple sv Boniface v Dokkum.