Country singer Granger Smith recently shared about the passing of his 3-year-old son in a heartbreaking Instagram post.
A few weeks later, he’s sharing with his fans what really happened, and how he’s learning to heal.
Granger Smith shared the devastating news that his 3-year-old son River, had died on June 6th,
“I have to deliver unthinkable news. We’ve lost our youngest son, River Kelly Smith. Following a tragic accident,” he wrote to fans.
It was later confirmed that their son had drowned.
“Amber and I made the decision to say our last goodbyes and donate his organs so that other children will be given a second chance at life.”
The Smiths expressed that they were comforted by the knowledge that River was now in Heaven.
“Our family is devastated and heartbroken, but we take solace in knowing he is with his Heavenly Father,” he said.
After two weeks of silence on social media, Granger and his wife have made a return.
“I believe I’m obligated on certain levels to include you guys in my current journey, as I’ve been involved either personally or musically in yours,” he wrote.
He linked to a YouTube video where he and his wife explained the circumstances surrounding River’s death.
He explained that he was outside “doing gymnastics” with his 7-year-old daughter, London.
River and their other son, Lincoln, 5, were playing with water guns.
It happened incredibly quickly.
He explained that it was between “30 seconds and three minutes” later that they were suddenly inside their pool gate attempting CPR on their son, highlighting how quickly things can happen.
Drowning accidents are unfortunately fairly common in children under five.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission , 350 children under the age of five drown per year. Among unintentional injuries, drowning is the second leading cause of death to this age group after motor vehicle accidents.
In some states, it is the leading cause of death for that age group.
Additionally, another 2,600 children are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year for near-drowning incidents. Some of these submersion accidents result in permanent brain damage.
Most of these children were being watched by parents at the time of the incident.
These kinds of accidents can happen extremely quickly and often don’t involve any obvious signs of a struggle, so please be hyper-aware and alert about your children’s safety around bodies of water this summer.
Granger noted that River had lived for just over 1000 days.
“I don’t think God takes anyone too soon,” he said. “I believe he was put on this Earth for that exact amount of time,” he added.
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He was finding the silver lining in a nightmare of a situation.
“If you could live those days barefoot, red hair flying back on your tractor full speed ahead, if you could do that with your family around you, with no real care in the world, that’s a good way to live,” he went on.
He added that next week, he’ll be going back on tour, and bringing his family with him.
This time around, he won’t be doing meet and greets, but he said that music has always been his healing and this is the best place for him right now.
“We had an incredible little boy for three years, and we feel really good about that,” he said.
He and his wife are determined to continue to live their best life, and try to create some good out of a horrible situation.
