Granger Smith’s Late Son River Saves Two Lives With Organ Donation

Jul 18, 2019 by apost team

Country music singer Granger Smith’s son, River, tragically died in early June after an accidental drowning at the singer’s Texas home. Since passing, Granger and his wife have updated the public on social media about their grief and mourning around the incident. They recently announced River was able to save two other people’s lives with his donated organs. 

The three-year-old tragically died on June 6th of this year after drowning in the pool at the family’s home. In a Youtube video, Granger and his wife, Amber, recount what happened on the day, Granger had been playing with his other child in the yard.

"I was outside playing with London. We were doing gymnastics in the yard and the boys were doing a water gun fight," the country singer said. "I remember thinking 'Soak up this moment because it’s not going to last forever.' Somewhere between 30 seconds and 3 minutes, we don’t know, Amber and I are inside our pool gate doing CPR on our son."

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After receiving the devastating news that their son could not be revived the couple had to make an impossible decision.

“When 3 different neuro specialists told us that River had 0% chance of brain recovery (yes 0, not 10 or 1%, 0) aftershock and reality set in, I thought, how can we bury our sweet baby and not try to help others?” River’s mom, Amber wrote on her Instagram.

After deciding to go ahead with the organ donation process, the couple received a letter that River had saved the lives of two other people. 

“We got the letter that our tiny, red-headed hero gave life to 2 adults. A 49-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man. I cried when we opened it. Cried out of sadness & cried out of love. I’m so proud to be River’s mama and I’m so grateful to God that he gave him to us for those incredible 3 years,” she continued. 

Amber also hopes that the two recipients have healthy, joyful lives like her late son. She also noted that 113,000 people are on the waiting list for transplants and 20 people die every day waiting for an organ.

Stanford Children’s Health says that unintentional drowning is the leading cause of deaths among children ages one to four.

“The majority of drownings and near-drownings occur in residential swimming pools and in open water sites.  However, children can drown in as little as one inch of water,” the organization reported. 

Our deepest condolences go out to the Smith family for their loss. Send this article to your friends and family so others can know about the Smith's story.