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SALEM, Idaho — A 9-year-old Idaho girl who died after a piece of metal impaled her head when she fell from a tree was able to save four lives and someone’s vision through organ donation, according to her family members.
Shaylyn Bergeson died about 8:45 p.m. Thursday at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, according to a Facebook post from Jenn Handy, a friend of Shaylyn’s mother, Jesi Bergeson.
Shaylyn fell from the tree on Monday, and the piece of rebar went through the whole left side of her brain, according to Jesi Bergeson. She was flown to Salt Lake City later that night and had surgery, after which doctors told her family she had about a 50% chance to survive, Jesi Bergeson said.
“We have been so blessed with the absolute best medical team during all this and they are still providing the best care to make sure she's respected, honored, and comfortable as we allow her body to pass and continue to give (life) to another lil kiddo,” she wrote on Facebook.
Several months before Shaylyn’s tragic accident, the family had had a conversation about organ donation, Jesi Bergeson said on Facebook.
“She without a blink of an eye said she wanted to donate everything she could,” Bergeson said. “Our angel has just always been the sweetest, kindest, and most selfless lil girl her entire life.”
Shaylyn was preceded in death by her older sister Briauna. She died in 2016 at age 10 after being diagnosed with a rare chromosome abnormality when she was 4 months old, according to her obituary.
Jesi Bergeson thanked those who supported the family as they prepared to say goodbye to Shaylyn.
“We are currently working with the transplant to make sure she can bless as many lives as possible through this horrific tragedy,” Jesi Bergeson said Thursday on Facebook. “We love you all and cannot express how blessed and loved we have and do feel through this whole process. Thank you all and please continue to pray for us as we again prepare to do the one thing no parent should ever have to do, bury a baby.”
Handy has set up a GoFundMe account* to assist the Bergeson family.
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
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Jacob Klopfenstein
