Shaylyn Bergeson dies 3 days after backyard accident, donates organs & corneas to 5 people
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UPDATE
Shaylyn Bergeson died Thursday evening at Primary Children’s Hospital surrounded by her family.
Her mother, Jesi Bergeson, sent EastIdahoNews.com the following message:
Shaylyn passed away at 8:45 p.m. very comfortably and quickly, which is important in order to perform what is called a circulatory death organ transplant. Our baby was able to save four lives and someone’s vision. The transplant team was able to retrieve her liver, kidneys, heart valves and corneas. 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.
Click here to learn more about organ donation.
UPDATE Thursday afternoon
The family of 9-year-old Shaylyn Bergeson is preparing for her to die and plan to donate her organs to other children.
In a Facebook message Thursday afternoon, Jesi Bergeson, Shaylyn’s mother, posted the following:
We appreciate so much all that has been done for us and all the love and support we have received during this time. We have noticed that some false information has been being shared and we just ask that no one shares info that they haven’t heard from us directly or from immediate family.
A couple of months ago Shaylyn, Tristan, and I had a conversation about organ donations. She without a blink of an eye said she wanted to donate everything she could. Our angel has just always been the sweetest, kindest, and most selfless lil girl her entire life. Unfortunately, God placed the desire for us to have that organ conversation on my heart for a reason. We are currently working with the transplant to make sure she can bless as many lives as possible through this horrific tragedy.
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 respected, honored, and comfortable as we allow her body to pass and continue to give life to another lil kiddo. 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.
ORIGINAL STORY
SALEM — A 9-year-old girl is fighting for her life after falling out of a tree and landing on a piece of rebar that impaled the left side of her head.
Shaylyn Bergeson was playing in her backyard north of Rexburg Monday when the accident happened. Emergency responders airlifted Shaylyn to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. She was then flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, where doctors performed emergency surgery.
“She had a craniotomy and they removed half of her skull to relieve the pressure,” Jesi Bergeson, Shaylyn’s mother, tells EastIdahoNews.com. “They found there is a lot of bleeding on the right side of her brain too. They gave a 50 percent chance that she wouldn’t survive the surgery and she pulled through but now we’re just watching and waiting to see what happens.”
Jesi describes Shaylyn as the “kindest, energetic and most beautiful little girl.” She is supposed to begin fourth grade at Kershaw Intermediate School in Sugar City next month but remains in critical condition. Her prognosis is unknown at this point.
Jesi and her husband, Kurt, have been by their daughter’s side in Utah. They are no strangers to tragedy after Shaylyn’s older sister, Briauna Bergeson, died in 2016.
“She had a rare chromosome abnormality and passed when she was 10 after being on hospice for three years,” Jesi says. “We are not doing good right now. We lost her older sister just four years ago and the thought of losing another baby is tearing us up.”
The Bergesons are thankful for the support they’ve received this week from the community. Friends have established fundraising accounts at Beehive Credit Union and on Venmo to help pay for medical and other expenses. A GoFundMe account has also been set up.
“We feel so blessed as the community has rallied around us in a way we could have never imagined,” Jesi says. “We love them all and feel so blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing community. We could not imagine going through any of this without them.”
Shalyn’s parents and her 11-year-old brother, Tristan, are relying on their faith that she will recover. They appreciate the doctors and medical professionals who are treating Shaylyn and hope their daughter and sister will pull through.
“We know they are doing everything they possibly can to give her a fighting chance,” Jesi says. “She is so tough and is fighting so hard right now. Thank you to everyone from the bottom of our hearts. We love you all.”
How to help the Bergesons
- Donations are being accepted at all Beehive Credit Union locations under the Kurt & Jesi Bergeson account.
- Donations are being accepted through Venmo. Click here to visit the page.
- Donations are also being accepted through GoFundMe. Click here to visit the page.
Our attorneys tell us we need to put this disclaimer in stories involving fundraisers: EastIdahoNews.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries.