YouTube Personality Brittani Boren Leach Reveals 3-Month-Old Son Suffered 'Irreparable' Brain Damage After Found Not Breathing
YouTube 'mama,' Brittani Boren Leach, best known for DIY videos, truths about motherhood, home [...]
YouTube "mama," Brittani Boren Leach, best known for DIY videos, truths about motherhood, home decor and more found on her channel catering to hundreds of thousands of subscribers shared devastating news to her social media just days after Christmas about her 3-month-old son, Crew. In a series of snapshots shared to her official Instagram between Dec. 26 to Dec. 28, Leach revealed her toddler son died after he was found not breathing on Christmas Day, ultimately suffering catastrophic brain damage. Detailing the account in a number of updates accompanied by heartbreaking photos, Leach shared just what happened following the unfathomable hospitalization.
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"I don't have any words right now, other than to desperately ask for your prayers," Leach wrote alongside the Dec. 26 photo of her holding Crew's tiny hand in a hospital room. "Not the kind that you say 'I'm praying for you' and don't, but the kind where you fall on your knees and beg God for a miracle. While at a relative's house last night, Crew laid down for a nap and when I went to check on him, he was not breathing. We are living a nightmare, and I'm dying inside. Please pray for my baby. This can't be real."
In an update that followed shortly after with a snapshot of the worried mother looking over her baby's bed, Leach shared that the 3-month-old was "stable" and that the ventilator was breathing for him.
"They are working on stabilizing his body and tomorrow he will have an MRI to determine his brain function and that will determine the next step. I can't explain to you what this feels like. This kind of thing only happens to 'other' people. Not me. I just want to crawl in bed with my baby and nurse him. Instead I'm standing here with a breast-pump in my bra where my baby should be... begging God for a miracle. Please continue to pray. Please. I don't think I can go on without him," she wrote alongside the hashtag, "Pray for Crew."
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Leach took to the social network again on Friday night, revealing that Crew's health was deteriorating and that the tiny tot's life was in jeopardy.
"Crew's tiny earthly body is still with us, although I know he's already dancing and playing in Heaven," she wrote in a photo alongside her husband, Jeff.
"We have some hard decisions to make over the next 12 hours, that no parent should ever have to make. We need prayer now, more than before, specifically prayers for peace and clarity on the decisions that have to be made, and for our hearts, the pain is unbearable. I keep thinking that I will wake up from this nightmare, but I don't. The outpouring of love and support has been astounding and we cannot even comprehend the amount of love we have been shown."
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In the last photo shared Saturday afternoon, Leach revealed a snapshot of herself laying in bed with her son, while listening to Kari Jobe and Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott.
"I have found clarity in the decisions that we have to make. And right now we are making hand and footprint imprints, a family handprint tree and a fingerprint charm," she wrote in the photo post Dec. 28. "Jeff and I take turns being strong for each other, and our kids have been so strong. We are just taking things, minute by minute, hour by hour, although it feels like a daze. The huge amount of support that we have been shown is mind blowing to us, and we truly do feel all of the love and prayers being sent this way."
Leach's husband, Jeff also shared an update to his Facebook, sharing with family and friends that the doctors have concluded that the damage to their son's brain is "catastrophic and irreparable."
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"We are devastated," he wrote in the heartbreaking post. "We have made the difficult decision to donate Crew's organs in the hopes that he can help another child and family in need. Crew fought bravely, so we could spend this time together. We're so blessed to have been here with him. Thank you to the first responders and staff at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center for bringing him back & giving us hope. Thank you to the staff of Methodist Children's Hospital for continuing to provide him with loving care. We are grateful for our family and friends who have stepped up to care for us & our kids in this time of need. Thank you to everyone who visited him, sent a sent note, said a prayer or made a contribution. Your love has lifted us."
While the events surrounding Crew's untimely passing are unknown, sources close to the family reveal that the 3-month-old was "healthy," but had "brain swelling."
In the days since news broke, Leach and her family have received support from the likes of Teen Mom 2 star, Chelsea Houska, Joanna Gaines and country singer Granger Smith's wife, Amber Riley Smith, who lost her son earlier this year in a drowning accident.
A GoFundMe for the family has since raised $71,000 of its $100,000 goal as of this writing.
Photo credit: Brittani Boren Leach / YouTube
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