Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, just donated a large check to Dell Medical Center, after the tragic loss of their 3-year-old son, River. The singer, who sold River Smith T-shirts, with all of the proceeds going to the hospital where River was treated, gave $218,791 to Dell Medical Center, with the promise of much more to come in the future.
“This is just the beginning,” Smith said, alongside Amber, with both of them wearing the shirts made in River’s honor, while in the courtyard of Dell Medical Center as reported by CBS Austin. “Let this be a small token of the gratitude that we’ve got for you guys.”
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River died after drowning in the family’s pool. The toddler was treated at Dell Medical Center, which Smith praised for their tireless efforts in caring for their son.
“I’ll never ever forget it,” Smith said. “The first thing we wanted to do was start giving back to Dell Children’s.”
“I pray that nobody else ever has to go through what we’ve gone through,” added Amber. “But if they do, I hope they come here because y’all were incredible.”
Smith praised Dell Medical Center when sharing the devastating news of River’s death, saying, “In lieu of flowers or gifts, please send donations to Dell Children’s Medical Center in River’s name. The doctors, nurses and staff have been incredible.”
It was their kindness, as well as their care, that prompted the family to immediately want to give back to the hospital.
“We watched you through our eyes, through our grieving eyes, in the worst of times, we watched you speak to our little boy like he heard you and we were hearing it,” Smith recalled. “You were speaking to us and it mattered.”
“We don’t understand why this happened and we’ll never understand, but I promise that we’re going to figure out the good,” Amber continued. “We’re going to bring good from it.”
The Smiths recently opened up about the tragedy, saying they were sticking together while they faced this unimaginable loss.
“We are stronger than ever right now,” Smith said in a recent video. “We’ve gotten so close. We’re going to constantly search for the meaning behind all of this. Not the reason. I think the reason is very different than the meaning. I’m not going to get caught up in the reasons. And I’ll never know. But we’ll find the meaning and the good in this and the way to spread this message and to spread this legacy. And he’ll always be with me, and he’ll always be in our hearts.”
The River Smith tribute shirt is available on Smith’s website.
Photo Credit: Instagram / Granger Smith
