On Sunday 25 April, six-year-old Deklan Babington-Macdonald suffered a severe accident at his home in Nerang, Queensland. He was playing with a toy he’d recently got from a major theme park on the Gold Coast when something awful happened.
We’re unsure of all the details at this stage. All we know is that this accident will cost Deklan his life.
Deklan’s family performed CPR and he was helicoptered to the Queensland Children’s Hospital. However, today, three days after the horrific accident, doctors informed the family that Deklan is beyond recovery.
Deklan’s life support will be withdrawn in the next 48 hours.
The bright-eyed little boy in the photo above is an only child to mum Lauren Babington. He is also the baby of his extended family and clearly very loved.
Stuffed toy penguin responsible
While the details of the incident remain unknown, Deklan’s cousin Lea Williams told media that they had purchased the toy at a major Gold Coast theme park only days earlier.
“It was a toy bought from SeaWorld on the Gold Coast,” Ms Williams told NCA NewsWire. “ … it had a long lead that was made stiff with a pole but the pole came out.
“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.
“The police took it away.”
‘Shocking accident should never have happened’
Lea did not elaborate on how the toy hurt Deklan. However, she did tell media:
It is a shocking accident that should never have happened. We are just reeling and we are struggling to come to how it occurred.
It was a toy that was bought four days earlier. It ended up being really dangerous and we are really angry but haven’t got our heads around it and can’t focus on it.”
Saying goodbye to Deklan
As anyone can imagine, Deklan’s parents and his extended family are beyond heartbroken. They also have asked the police to investigate. Hopefully, police can shed some light on how this happened and ensure it doesn’t happen to another child.
Deklan’s aunts have set up a My Cause account to help cover the funeral costs and support devastated mum, Lauren, as she comes to terms with this tragic loss.
As you can understand this is a devastating time for the family. 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.
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 now has just a few hours left by Deklan’s side in the ICU before they will need to say their goodbyes to their baby.
Our condolences are with the family at this tragic time.
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