Baseball Team Pictures End in Tragedy When 6-Year-Old Boy Dies of Heart Attack
We talk a lot about treasuring every day because we never know when life might end. We discuss how life is a vapor and a breath, here today and gone tomorrow.
We opine about the need to seize every moment. Yet death still catches us off guard.
According to WTVC, 6-year-old Brantley Chandler from North Georgia was almost a totally normal, sports-loving little boy. He absolutely adored baseball and was an avid player with his little league team, the Rock Springs Mustangs.
Brantley showed up to the baseball field one day to take pictures with his team. His solo snap showed a happy kid with a big grin on his face and an equally large bat.
But tragically, it would be his last photo. When Brantley joined the rest of his team for the group session, something incomprehensible happened.
He collapsed to the ground unexpectedly. He died only a few hours later.
His mother Meghan Bryson explained that the young boy had an extremely rare heart condition. Called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, it affects fewer than a thousand children in the United States every year.
It causes poor blood flow in the left side of the heart. This means that other organs don’t always get all of the oxygen they need.
According to the CDC, the condition typically has two factors. One is genetic.
However, environmental factors may also play a role. Although there are several treatments that can help, they don’t cure young children with the disorder.
An obituary published by Lane Funeral Home read, “When he was not playing baseball, Brantley could be found enjoying what the outdoors had to offer. He loved hunting, fishing, spending time with his hunting dog ‘Boss,’ riding four wheelers, and playing in the mud getting his boots dirty!
“Brantley could ask more questions than anyone in a minute, he loved tractors and heavy equipment, and he attended Faith Baptist Church in Ringgold. He will be truly missed by his family and all of the many people he touched.”
He will certainly be missed by the Rock Springs Mustangs. His team and the coaches all came to the funeral home in their little league uniforms to say goodbye to their beloved friend and teammate.
According to WTVC, the Rock Springs Athletic Association will hold an opening day tribute in honor of Brantley on April 13. Our thoughts and prayers go out for Brantley’s family and friends during this tragic time.
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