A boy died Thursday, five years after being hit by a tree limb, causing brain damage, the family confirmed to Atlanta's WSB-TV.
Tripp Halstead was 2 years old when the tree limb fell on his head at his day care center on Oct. 29, 2012, the television station reported.
The boy struggled to survived after the incident while friends, family and many on social media pulled for him, WSB-TV said. The family shared the news of the child's passing on Facebook Thursday.
"There are no words to express how Bill and I are feeling at this moment," wrote Stacy Halstead, the boy's mother. "We are beyond devastated and honestly I believe I am in shock. Our amazing, perfect, beautiful miracle of a son, Tripp Hughes Halstead passed away at 5:47 pm today. He was our whole world.
"We love you Trippadoo and you will never realize the impact you made on our lives. I have no idea when I will post again. I’m still processing everything," she continued.
After the 2012 accident, Tripp's brain had swollen, causing his body to shut down and doctors worried that he may not survive initially, but he appeared to overcome the worst, WXIA-TV reported.
Stacy Halstead shared her son's health progress on social media, but it is not known what let to his death, WXIA-TV wrote.
"Bill and I were in the room when he passed at the hospital," Stacy Halstead wrote. "His little body was just done fighting this last infection. His little heart gave out. This winter was brutal for him. I'm just so thankful he had the best summer ever. Jet skis, Disney World, the list is endless and that's when we got those amazing huge smiles."
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Halstead said earlier in the day that her son had labored breathing and diarrhea. The family, who lives in Jefferson, Georgia, about 60 miles from Atlanta, took him to a hospital closer to their home, but he was later transferred to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, the newspaper said.
The Journal-Constitution wrote that Bill Halstead confirmed his son's death about seven hours after that post.
The child was remembered in numerous social media posts.
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