A Georgia boy who survived despite sustaining a traumatic brain injury five years ago when a tree branch fell on him has died, his family announced.
The boy’s mother, Stacy Halstead, said she noticed her son, Tripp, had labored breathing when she went to wake him up for school on Thursday morning.
“I could see his little chest going up and down and his heart rate was high,” she wrote on Facebook.
READ: Toddler Who Battled Serious Brain Injury Dies
Because Tripp was whining and having diarrhea, his pediatrician instructed them to come into the office.
“I could tell Tripp was getting worse,” Halstead said of the drive to the doctor’s office. Instead of trying to make it to Atlanta, the two went to an emergency room in Athens instead.
https://www.facebook.com/TrippHalsteadUpdates/posts/1649718758439670
Less than 10 hours later, Halstead announced that Tripp had died, describing him as their “amazing, perfect, beautiful miracle of a son.”
“There are no words to express how Bill and I are feeling at this moment,” she wrote. “We are beyond devastated and honestly I believe I am in shock.”
https://www.facebook.com/TrippHalsteadUpdates/photos/a.473997096011848.1073741827.371758639569028/1650350125043200/?type=3&theater
Halstead did not mention exactly how Tripp died, but in a previous post she said his left lung was “cloudy” because his oxygen levels were low and carbon dioxide levels high.
Doctors had recommended a bronchial washing, and Tripp was going to be transported to the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta.
When Tripp was 2 years old, a tree branch fell on him while he was at day care, injuring both sides of his brain, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. He remained in the hospital for 10 months after the accident but eventually recovered.
The family would post regular updates on Tripp’s health on Facebook.