UPDATE: Boy in coma after fall from tree dies

Here's an article from our local newspaper with further details surrounding this post: TheoPoetic Musings: Summer Long Hiatus/Tragedy In The Church: "Summer Long Hiatus/Tragedy In The Church":

UPDATE: Boy in coma after fall from tree dies

Taken off life support on Friday
By David Reynolds
Dave.Reynolds@StarNewsOnline.com


Published: Sunday, August 30, 2009 at 7:49 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, August 30, 2009 at 7:49 p.m.
Belville | On Friday, Heather Skipper made the most difficult decision of her life. Her 9-year-old son Teddy Hiatt hadn’t woken up from a coma since he fell from a tree in Belville on Aug. 23.

He was dying.

If she allowed Teddy’s organs to be donated, Skipper said, maybe other parents might not go through what she has.

“I wanted something good to come out of this,” Skipper said. “It’s agony wondering whether your child is going to survive.”

Teddy of Oak Island was taken off life support on Friday, and he died at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington. Skipper said his organs will be used to help eight other children.

On the afternoon of Aug. 23, Teddy was rushed from a neighborhood in Belville to the hospital after he fell out of a tree.

The Southport Elementary School student had been playing with friends outside his friends’ home at 10043 North Olde Towne Wynd when he fell.

The next day, Skipper said her son was on life support, but she was holding out hope he would pull through. She also said doctors had told her it was unlikely Teddy would survive.

Since Skipper does not have health insurance, people in the community have helped her with donations for medical bills.

Most recently, a fundraiser was held at Chaser's Beach Club in Oak Island on Saturday, Skipper said. She has also set up a fund at RBC Centura Bank in Wilmington.

On Sunday, Skipper said Teddy was adventurous and loved the outdoors. A little environmentalist, she said, Teddy would get frustrated if he saw someone throw their cigarette out a car window.

He loved to surf and already could beat his mom at chess. He is survived by his mother, his older sister Angel Hiatt, 13, and his father T.R. Hiatt.

Doctors performed surgery to relieve pressure on Teddy’s brain, Skipper said, but he didn’t recover from the serious neck and head injuries he received in the fall.

Teddy’s viewing will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Peacock Newnam & White Funeral Home at 1141 North Howe St. in Southport. Skipper said anyone who would like to attend is welcome.

The funeral will be at 4 p.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church of Oak Island.

David Reynolds: 343-2075

On Twitter.com: @StarNewsOnline

All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


Theodore “Teddy” Hiatt, of Oak Island, died at New Hanover Regional Medical Center on Friday. Contributed photo

Summer Long Hiatus/Tragedy In The Church

Sorry for the Summer long silence, but I spent most of my Summer at our pool or playing video games as well as spending time with family and friends. We had a lot of company this Summer, too---especially since my 30th birthday was August the 3rd. Anyways, I hope to get back into full blogging mode soon now that Fall is rolling around---but I figured I'd break my silence today as we had a tragic death in our church this week. A little boy was playing with some friends and climbed a tree and fell off it and died later in the hospital earlier this week. It is always sad to lose someone so young, but his parents even in the face of tragic circumstances did a graceful thing by donating his organs to help save and give life to others and that is what following Jesus is about---acts of self-less grace. Even-though, these parents lost a life by living out their faith, they gave hope and life to others who might have lost a life as well.

This Is Sad

Couple Jump From Cliff With Son's Body
AOL
posted: 1 DAY AGOcomments: 480filed under: World NewsPrintShareText SizeAAA

(June 2) -- British police are investigating what one resident has called a "terrible tragedy" -- the apparent suicide of a couple whose 5-year-old son died of natural causes.
The bodies of Neil and Kazumi Puttick were spotted Sunday at the base of Beachy Head, a notorious suicide spot in East Sussex, London's Daily Mail reported. The couple had placed the body of their son, Sam, in a rucksack before they jumped, police said, and it was found next to them.

Sam, whose spinal cord was injured when a car hit him at age 1, was paralyzed from the neck down and used a ventilator 24 hours a day, the newspaper said. He had been hospitalized with pneumococcal meningitis, an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, and was discharged Friday so that he could die peacefully at home, a hospital spokesman told the Mail.
Sam died that night. Police said that the Putticks made the 100-mile trip from their home to Beachy Head on Sunday. There were two rucksacks found near Neil and Kazumi's Puttick's bodies. One contained their son, and the other held some of his toys.

Police are investigating whether the Putticks "were so overcome with grief at their son's fairly sudden death that they decided they could not bear to go on without him," a source told the Mail.
The family's neighbors were stunned by the deaths.

"It is a terrible tragedy and I can't believe it has happened," one told the newspaper. "This is too shocking for words."
Another said that Kazumi, 44, and Neil, 34, were devoted to their child. "They were a lovely couple and they did 150 per cent for that boy."
The Daily Mail has more details on the probe.

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2009-06-02 08:54:32

People deal with grief in different ways, but it is always sad to see grief carried out to such tragic consequences. When this happens---we are always left with questions of how, why and what if? We also wonder---could this event have been avoided or not? What should have the church done to have helped this situation before it got to that point? Anyways, my condolences to the Puttick family and may God be with them!