"Deklan passed away on the 30th of April, at Queensland Children’s Hospital, surrounded by his closest family, extended family and some close friends of the family," the family said in a statement.
A 6-year-old boy in Australia has passed away following a freak accident involving a plush penguin toy, People magazine reported.
Deklan Babington-MacDonald died on Friday at Queensland Children's Hospital, five days after he was airlifted to the facility in critical condition. On Wednesday, his mother, Lauren, said doctors considered him "beyond recovery," and would withdraw life support over the next 48 hours, according to People.
The family has launched a My Cause fundraising campaign, similar to that of GoFundMe in America, and have given updates since the accident.
The family wrote that “Deklan suffered a severe accident at home in Nerang, with a toy he was playing with.” The family performed CPR, according to the My Cause page and said he was then airlifted to Queensland Children’s Hospital.
The boy’s cousin, Lea Williams spoke to NCA NewsWire and said that Deklan was injured after a plush penguin toy was attached to a leash that had a stiff pole in it and broke as he was playing with it, causing the boy to get caught up in the leash.
"It broke and turned into basically a long rope with a loop on the end. In a very short amount of time Deklan became entangled," she said. "Devastated doesn't begin to describe how the family is right now."
The family took to Facebook following the tragedy and said that they are raising money for his memorial.
"As you can understand this is a devastating time for the family so please respect their privacy and understand they won't be able to talk on the phone. They are reading the messages of support and appreciate all the love and kindness shown by the community," a statement posted to the Facebook page supporting Deklan read. "The money donated will go towards Deklan's memorial and allow Lauren to make an important keepsake with Deklan's ashes when the time is right."
The family’s target of $12,000 has been exceeded as they have raised over $15,000.
