“The piece of metal ran through the whole left side of Shaylyn’s brain," her mom said.
A 9-year-old Idaho girl died Thursday evening after she fell from a tree and was impaled by a reinforcement bar earlier this week.
Shaylyn Bergeson, from Rexburg, passed away “very comfortably and quickly” despite family and medical staff being hopeful she may pull through, a loved one said on Facebook.
The 9-year-old had been playing in her backyard Monday when she accidentally fell from a tree. She landed on a metal reinforcement rod that went through her brain, mom Jesi Bergeson said on Facebook.
“The piece of metal ran through the whole left side of Shaylyn’s brain,” she said.
Local hospital staff said her condition was too complex, and she was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, where doctors performed a lifesaving surgery that included removing half of her skull to remove the pressure in her brain.
Doctors gave her a 50% chance of survival from the risky procedure and were hopeful she may pull through when the surgery was deemed successful.
Days later, Bergeson announced her daughter didn’t make it.
Shaylyn successfully donated her liver, kidneys, heart valves and corneas to save four peoples’ lives and one person’s vision.
“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,” a loved one said.
Her parents believe that’s what she would have wanted.
“A couple months ago Shaylyn, Tristan, and I had a conversation about organ donations. She without a blink of an eye said she wanted to donate everything she could,” her mom said. “Unfortunately God placed the desire for us to have that organ conversation on my heart for a reason.”
Shaylyn is survived by her 11-year-old brother. Their eldest sister, Briauna, died in 2016 in hospice care, after being born with a rare chromosomal abnormally.
The family's GoFundMe page can be found here.
RELATED STORIES
