In a tragic turn of events, 9-year-old boy passed away leaving his family devastated and confused about the sudden loss. The young child unexpectedly died in his sleep on Friday night. “With no known sickness or trauma he passed away in his sleep and was found by his siblings and mother. We had no warning. But God gave us some special moments.” the boy’s uncle said.
Speaking to Fox affiliate KSTU, his uncle, JD Sheppard, recalled how the 9-year-old boy from Utah, Logan Gagnier, spend the day with his family like any other before going to bed.
“Saturday morning, the house kind of starts waking up and mom said, ‘Where’s Logan?’ They went to wake him up, and unfortunately, he passed early on in the evening,” shared Sheppard. In a GoFundMe Page, which was eventually created by Sheppard to help his nephew’s grieving family, the devastated uncle noted that the 9-year-old was “tragically and suddenly taken from this life.”
“With no known sickness or trauma he passed away in his sleep and was found by his siblings and mother,” he wrote on the fundraiser’s page. “We had no warning. But God gave us some special moments,” Sheppard told KSTU.
Logan’s mother, who is heartbroken beyond anything, took to social media that fateful morning to express how her world had been shattered “in an instant.”
Recalling the moments that led to the shocking discovery, she explained that she initially believed that Logan was “just sleeping in from a late-night.” Thus, she instructed one of his siblings to go wake him up. “My oldest daughter ran upstairs just to see if he was okay and found him unresponsive. He’d been gone for hours,” the boy’s father, Garth Gagnier, told NBC affiliate KSL-TV through tears.
The family still has no idea what caused their little boy’s death as the preliminary autopsy was inconclusive. “He was healthy and he was active, so that’s what’s confusing and frustrating,” expressed Garth, who is looking for answers. he remembered his son as a kind would who “had so much to offer.”
“When people are so focused on differences, Logan had so much to offer because he treated people like they were people. So, I think what Logan would say he wanted to get out of his life was that,” he told KSL-TV. According to his uncle, Logan had a big personality. “In his 9 years, he lived life to the fullest,” he wrote on the GoFundMe page.
“He loved BYU football, family time, and was always looking to make people laugh. Our hearts are broken, but we know he was received into heaven by angels. If there is a football field in heaven, he is catching touchdown passes today, and taking a break eating Oreos and Doritos. Please pray for his family who has to struggle with living with the hole in their home and their hearts. We love you Logan,” it continued.
On Monday, the boy’s school paid a tribute to the fourth-grade student on its campus. “We will begin to honor and remember him on Monday, March 14, with a ribbon tying event. Students and their families who wish to help can meet at 1:00 p.m. in front of the school. Logan’s favorite colors were ours, orange and blue,” it read.