SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A 9-year-old East Idaho girl has died after falling out of a tree and getting impaled in the head by a steel bar, her family said Friday.
Shaylyn Bergeson, who lived in the Rexburg area, was playing in her backyard Monday when she fell, Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries said.
Officers found the girl unconscious under a tree near the family’s home after a piece of steel poking out of the ground impaled her. The girl was airlifted a hospital in Utah, where she underwent surgery.
Shaylyn died Thursday evening at the hospital, said her mother Jesi Bergeson.
Bergeson said the energetic little girl loved to jump rope and do gymnastics. She joked to her parents that her talents would take them to jump rope competitions around the world one day. Shaylyn also loved arts and crafts, especially projects involving glitter, Bergeson said. They recently banned glitter from the house, she joked.
Shaylyn was a very active child, she added, who enjoyed riding her first mountain bike on country roads and climbing up trees.
“She loved everything and everyone,” Bergeson said. “She’s had more positive life experiences than some people do in 80 years of living.”
Bergeson said she and Shaylyn had spoken a few months ago about organ donation. Shaylyn told her mother that she wanted to donate her organs if she ever passed away.
When she died Thursday evening, Bergeson said they were able to donate her liver, kidneys, heart valves and corneas to patients in need. She said it speaks to her daughter’s giving nature.
“Our baby was able to save four lives and someone’s vision,” Bergeson said in the post. “We again are overwhelmed with how blessed we truly are and 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.
Shaylyn’s father Kurt Bergeson said in an earlier post on Wednesday that he couldn’t sleep wondering how it happened, after also earlier losing older daughter Briauna in 2016 to a rare chromosomal condition.
“What could I have done to stop this?... The only explanations I can think of are that we are not meant to understand why at this time, only God understands. There is nothing that we did for this to happen and no way we could have seen something like this coming,” he said.
He added, “Jess and I are truly totally heartbroken and no matter what we may never fully heal but I believe that our Heavenly Father must have very important plans for my girls. I wanted to thank all of our family and friends for their love and support not just at this time, but during the lives of both of our girls.”
Bergeson added, “I also want to thank all of the members of our ward and our community who have shown us Christlike love and support for years during the lives of both our girls,” he said. “Jess and I are forever grateful.”
The address for the gofundme site to help cover the family’s medical costs is as follows: https://www.gofundme.com/medical-expenses-for-shaylyn-bergeson Donors had provided over $25,000 as of Saturday evening.
The Idaho State Journal contributed to this report.