On June 6, 2019, Granger Smith and wife Amber had the unfathomable happen and lost their three-year-old son, River, after a tragic drowning accident at their Texas home.
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When it was clear that River would not be able to recover after his drowning accident, Granger and Amber made the selfless decision to donate their son’s organs in hopes of giving other children a second chance at life.
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Following River’s death, the family became advocates for drowning prevention and set up a fund in his honor.
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On Thursday, June 4, 2020, Amber took to Instagram to reflect on it being a year since she held him in her arms and admitting how hard it was to grasp the amount of time that had passed.
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June 6, 2020, was the one-year anniversary of River’s death. Amber posted on Instagram to honor her little boy and reflect on the day that their son was taken to the operating room to harvest his organs for donation.
“One year ago today, we took our “honor walk” as we walked behind our sweet son down the long hallway to the operating room. River took his last breath in there, without his mommy and daddy. We know his spirit was with Jesus, but his earthly body was still present and it was so hard to let them close those doors without us.”
She revealed how hard it was to let him be wheeled into the emergency room without them, but she found comfort when she found out that the surgery was successful and that the surgery staff played the Disney Cars soundtrack while operating to honor River’s memory.
“I’ll never forget waiting for what felt like hours for them to come back and tell us everything went wonderful, they were taking the organs to the recipients and he was at peace. They later told me they played the Cars soundtrack as they operated.”
Amber also reflected on the extremely difficult conversation they had to have with their two older children that River wouldn’t be coming home.
“We now had to tell our children their brother wasn’t coming home. When we got there we saw this. My heart hurt so bad knowing they colored these hearts anticipating his return. He wouldn’t return to our home but he was Home. We grabbed our kiddos, I could tell by her face, London already knew what we were about to say, and took them out into the woods where Riv always played. We sat together, held each other and had one of the hardest conversations I hope we ever have to have.”
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Our hearts and prayers are forever the Smith family.
If you’d like to donate to the River Kelly Fund, you can do so by clicking here.
Watch the video below of the couple talking about finding the light in their darkest time.