Friday marks a painful anniversary for the family of Tripp Halstead and the millions who loved him across the world.
The 7-year-old boy passed away on March 15, 2018, more than five years after an accident at a Winder daycare changed his life forever.
It was Oct. 12, 2012 that Tripp was playing outside and a large branch broke from a tree and landed directly on his head, knocking him unconscious.
Doctors feared the worst: it appeared that the then-2-year-old boy might not make it. His brain had swollen, shutting his body down. But little Tripp overcame it. Over the next few years, his mother Stacy shared the highs and lows of his progress with millions of followers on the Tripp Halstead Updates Facebook page.
But on the morning of March 15, 2018, Stacy wrote that she woke up to find Tripp with labored breathing. She rushed him to the hospital. He passed away at 5:47 p.m. that day, his mother said.
On the eve of the anniversary of his son's death, Bill Halstead took to Facebook to share some thoughts.
"I was thinking it would put a smile on Stacy’s face tomorrow if we all wrote our favorite memory of Tripp down, she needs it with tomorrow being a year since we lost our sweet boy. That and adding in that she got a nasty little stomach bug today which has wiped her out.
"I’ll go first ... Mine was of a night when Stacy and I were going out on a date and we had brought Tripp over to Mimi and Bobo’s house, we were getting ready to leave and as all women always force us guys to do, Stacy forced me against my will (j/k) to get a picture taken of us in front of the fireplace. As we’re standing there smiling all we both here is this faint voice say 'cheese,' we look down and there was Tripp photobombing us! I loved it, it was so funny and sweet, just like him!"
Earlier in the day, Stacy Halstead posted that she was sick with a stomach bug, but that they were planning to travel to North Carolina on Friday.
Since their son's death, the couple have kept their Facebook page active to keep followers updated as well as reminiscence about Tripp.
Photos | Tripp Halstead through the years
