Levi Wright, the young son of rodeo star Spencer Wright, has died.
The three-year-old died after suffering a trаumаtic brain injury from a near-drowning incident on May 21.
Levi was hospitalized at a Salt Lake City hospital after accidentally driving a toy tractor into a river near the family’s home on May 21. Local law enforcement found Levi unconscious about a mile downstream.
Although he was initially declared brain dеаd and not expected to survive, the boy began showing signs of improvement.
“LEVI WOKE UP! I am shook, we don’t know much but the doctor said it was okay for me to get excited about that and I AM! My baby is so tough!” his mother Kallie Wright wrote on Facebook.
Unfortunately, the following day the results of an MRI “wasn’t good.”
“We’re shattered but it is just images that suggest a certain quality of life. Our real teller of all will be what Levi does over the course of a few days,” Kallie shаrеd.
As Levi continued his fight in the hospital, his family and friends continued asking for prayers.
On June 2, Kallie shаrеd devastating news.
“After several sleepless nights, lots of research, multiple conversations with the world’s best neurologists & millions of prayers we are here in the face of our biggest fear,” she wrote. “Levi showed us just enough to buy us time for all of this. We prayed those things were him defying odds & proving to us that he wanted to stay here but we see now he wanted to give us time to find peace with letting him go.”
After countless tests, scans, and consultations, the Wright family took Levi off life support.
The following day, June 3, a family friend, Mindy Sue Clark, confirmed on Facebook that Levi had died.
“I cannot even begin to explain how hard the last two weeks have been. From the moment my phone rang the night of his accident, to last night receiving the message that he had to go. I don’t want to focus on the bad or sad, even though it feels likе someone ripped my heart out and squeezed it right in front of me. I want to focus on the many miracles we all got to bear witness to in those 12 days.”
“The most perfect three year old there ever was. So perfect we didn’t get to keep him. This baby boy moved mountains the last 12 days. He brought so many people together. In a world so dark, we got to see light at the hands of a child. He’s everything his mom and dad could’ve wanted him to be.”
Our prayers are with the Wright family during this extremely difficult time.
Christopher Reeve’s Son’s Life Shattered by the Loss of Both Parents Before Age 13
There are many stories about kids who look just like their famous parents.
From Michael J. Fox’s twin daughters to Julia Roberts’s teenage daughter who looks just like her, and even Elvis Presley’s grandson, there are many celebrity kids who make us do a double-take.
Christopher Reeve’s 29-year-old son, Will, is one of those kids. Not only does he look exactly like his father, but he is also working hard to carry on his father’s inspiring legacy.
Sadly, Will had to face a huge loss when he was only 13 years old. He lost both of his parents at such a young age.
What does a hero look like?
For many people growing up in the late 70s and early 80s, a hero looked like Christopher Reeve.
He became famous for playing Superman in the 1978 movie, and his performance earned him a BAFTA award for Most Promising Male Newcomer. He also starred in three more Superman films: Superman II, Superman III, and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
Christopher Reeve, born in New York in 1952, was more than just an actor. He was also a film director, producer, screenwriter, equestrian, and activist.
However, everything changed for Christopher Reeve on May 27, 1995. During a horse riding competition in Culpeper, Virginia, he fell off his horse Buck and injured his spinal cord.
The fall left him paralyzed from the neck down and confined to a wheelchair. His family and fans were devastated.
Christopher’s mother even asked doctors to stop his breathing machine and let him die. According to the New York Times, if Christopher had fallen just one centimeter more to the left, he might have died instantly. If he had landed slightly to the right, he might have only had a concussion.
Christopher Reeve was just 42 years old when he became a quadriplegic. After his accident, he was in a wheelchair and needed a portable ventilator to help him breathe for the rest of his life.
Doctors quickly told him that there was little chance of improvement and said it would be “impossible” for him to regain any movement.
Reeve was in a lot of pain and, in the early days at the hospital, he was heavily medicated and confused. After hearing the doctors’ grim diagnosis, he felt as though his life had been shattered.
Christopher Reeve didn’t want to be a burden to his family and suggested to his wife, Dana Morosini, that they might need to consider ending his life support.
With tears in her eyes, Dana replied, “I will support whatever you decide, because this is your life and your decision. But I want you to know that I’ll be with you for the long haul, no matter what. You’re still you. And I love you.”
Instead of giving up, Reeve focused on activism. He and Dana started the Christopher Reeve Foundation, which was later renamed the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. They also co-founded the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, advocating for spinal cord injury research and stem cell research.
Christopher Reeve made sure his son had a happy childhood despite the challenges he faced. In a 2016 interview with PEOPLE, Will Reeve shared that his upbringing felt “totally normal.”
He said, “They were the people who told me to turn off the TV, to eat my broccoli, to go to bed. I know not every kid sees their dad on magazine covers at the grocery store, but… it was a totally normal childhood.”
Will Reeve also remembered a special moment when his father, Christopher Reeve, taught him how to ride a bike from his wheelchair. “I didn’t think it would work. I was terrified, but I could hear my dad’s voice guiding me: ‘Steady, steady, left, right, left, right,’” Will recalled. By the third lap, he was smiling and waving at his dad, who was smiling back. “That meant so much to him. Later on, I’d race him in his wheelchair, and he’d let me win.”
Unfortunately, Will’s father passed away while they were still working on rebuilding their lives.
Christopher Reeve had health issues from a young age, including asthma and allergies that affected his breathing. At 16, he also developed alopecia areata, which caused his hair to fall out. Although he managed this condition during his acting career, he chose to shave his head after becoming paralyzed.
In the early 2000s, Reeve faced several infections. In October 2004, he was being treated for an infected pressure ulcer that had led to sepsis. On October 9, he was watching his son Will play hockey, but later that night, he suffered a heart attack after receiving antibiotics for his infection.
Christopher Reeve fell into a coma, and there was nothing the doctors could do. He passed away on October 10, 2004, at the age of 52. Both his wife, Dana, and the doctors attributed his death to an adverse reaction to medication.
Christopher’s body was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, and his ashes were scattered.
Just 10 months after Christopher’s death, Dana was diagnosed with lung cancer, even though she had never smoked. According to Christopher P. Andersen, Dana had performed and sung in smoky bars and hotel lobbies during the early days of her career, which might have contributed to her illness.
Dana Reeve, an American actress and singer, married Christopher Reeve in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on April 11, 1992.
Dana battled a malignant lung tumor for several months and passed away on March 6, 2006, at the age of 44.
Their son, William Elliot “Will” Reeve, was born on June 7, 1992. Tragically, Will was only 13 years old when he lost both of his parents.
Today, Will Reeve has grown up to look just like his father, Christopher Reeve, though he has largely stayed out of the spotlight.
Will has completed his education and is now building a successful career in the sports news industry.
At 29 years old, Will’s resemblance to his father is striking. But what’s truly remarkable about him is that he continues the important work his parents began.
Leave a Reply