Rodeo star's son Levi Wright dies after Utah river accident: report
Saddle bronc champion Spencer Wright's 3-year-old son has died nearly two weeks after he fell off his toy tractor and into a Utah river, drowning and losing oxygen to his brain, a family friend said.
The toddler was airlifted to Beaver Valley Hospital after the accident in Beaver Creek on May 21, Fox News Digital previously reported.
He remained in critical condition there until the family made the decision to take the boy off life support on Sunday, family friend Mindy Sue Clark told People magazine.
"I cannot even begin to explain how hard the last two weeks have been," Clark, who told Fox News Digital that she is the boy's mother's best friend, wrote in a Facebook post Monday. "From the moment my phone rang the night of his accident, to last night receiving the message that he had to go."
RODEO STAR SPENCER WRIGHT'S FAMILY HOPES TO WEAN CRITICALLY INJURED 3-YEAR-OLD OFF BREATHING TUBE
The boy's mother, Kallie Wright, wrote in a separate Facebook post Sunday that their family had to "face [their] biggest fear" after "several sleepless nights, lots of research, multiple conversations with the world's best neurologists [and] millions of prayers."
"Levi showed us just enough to buy us time for all this," she wrote. "We prayed those things were him defying the odds and proving to us that he wanted to stay here, but we see now he wanted to give us time to find peace with letting him go."
The toddler was swept up by the river in the moments that his mother took to run inside – when she came outside to find her son's tractor alongside the river and the boy missing, she contacted authorities and amassed a search party.
In the initial days afterward, Levi's prognosis was not good, with Clark writing that "his sweet little brain was without oxygen too long" and that the family "[felt] strongly that his spirit [was] no longer with us."
The boy began to show promising signs of brain function last week, briefly opening his eyes and showing a reaction to his sister's voice on an EEG, according to earlier Facebook posts. The family had hoped to wean the boy off his breathing tube pending further promising results.
But the toddler's mother wrote in her post yesterday that she would soon "climb into bed with [her] baby and hold him as he falls asleep for the last time on Earth," saying she found "comfort in knowing he will be restored to the perfect little boy he was."
RODEO STAR SPENCER WRIGHT'S 3-YEAR-OLD SON HOSPITALIZED AFTER FALLING INTO UTAH RIVER ON TOY TRACTOR
Despite the tragic outcome, both Clark and Levi's mother were in awe of the community response to the boy's situation.
"I don't want to focus on the bad or sad, even though it feels like someone ripped my heart out and squeezed it right in front of me. I want to focus on the many miracles we all got to bear witness to in those 12 days," Clark wrote in her post, referring to the time between the boy's accident and his death on Sunday.
"Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people surrounded our best little buddy, lifted him up in prayer and threw their loving arms around Levi and his family," she said.
Before his death, his mother wrote in her post, Levi "brought out humanity across the nation... dropped so many to their knees and reminded them what truly matters in this world."
The toddler's father, 33-year-old Spencer Wright, is ranked No. 40 in the world in saddle bronc riding. He and his three brothers made history in 2014 when all four qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Wright ultimately won the championship.
The family was the subject of the book "The Last Cowboys" and has been featured on an episode of "60 Minutes."
Earlier this year, Wright won the Rio Grande Livestock Show and Rodeo in Mercedes, Texas.