Idaho girl, 9, 'saves 4 lives and someone's vision' after family donates organs following her fatal fall from tree
REXBURG, IDAHO: A 9-year-old Idaho girl donated most of her organs before breathing her last after her head was pierced by a piece of reinforcement bar when she fell off a tree, reports say.
According to a GoFundMe campaign set up on the family's behalf, Shaylyn Bergeson was playing in the backyard of her north Rexburg home on Thursday when she accidentally fell out of a tree and landed on a metal reinforcement rod that punctured the left side of her brain.
In a Facebook post, her mother Jesi Bergeson said that her daughter breathed her last at approximately 8:45 pm at the Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City after undergoing a craniotomy.
"Shaylyn passed away at 8:45 pm very comfortably and quickly, which is important in order to perform what is called a circulatory death organ transplant," she wrote.
The transplant team was able to retrieve her liver, kidneys, heart valves and corneas.
"Our baby was able to save four lives and someone’s vision. We again are overwhelmed with how blessed we truly are and although we are completely devastated, we are also so proud and overjoyed for those five individuals who are getting a phone call with the answer to a prayer they have been desperately asking for is now possible."
Reportedly, the little girl was first taken to the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center but was then airlifted to the Primary Children’s Hospital where doctors performed a craniotomy and removed half of her skull to relieve the immense amount of pressure in her brain.
In another post, Bergeson wrote, “She without a blink of an eye said she wanted to donate everything she could. Our angel has just always been the sweetest, kindest, and most selfless lil girl her entire life. Unfortunately, God placed the desire for us to have that organ conversation on my heart for a reason.”
Shaylyn was ready for her fourth grade at Kershaw Intermediate School in Sugar City next month. An online fundraiser set up in her memory had exceeded $17,000 as of Friday.
Shaylyn's older sister, Briauna, died in 2016 of a rare chromosomal abnormality and spent the last three years of her life in hospice care. Struggling to make sense of the tragedy that had befallen the family again, her father posted his thoughts on the family's GoFundMe page.
"Sitting here this morning I am unable to sleep and the thoughts keep creeping into my head," he wrote. "Why did this happen? What could I have done to stop this?”
He also thanked the huge network of friends, family and supporters who sent them goodwill and best wishes.