A family’s idyllic day enjoying the newly fallen snow in North Carolina was shattered after their toddler son tragically died in a sledding accident.
Ayden Sasser was playing outside in Whitsett, North Carolina on Saturday when his sled plunged into a nearby pond, and he became trapped under the ice, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office said in a release. Police declined to provide Sasser’s age.
Hysterical audio from 911 calls captured the frantic seconds following the freak accident in the small town.
“Please please please,” an unidentified woman is heard telling the operator. “There is thin ice, and they’re trying to get to him. They’re trying to help.”
The caller said that the little boy was near the middle of the lake and two people jumped into the water to assist.
“I think they got him. It’s really cold though,” she said. “I don’t know. He was in there for a good minute. He’s probably freezing cold.”
“I don’t think he’s okay. I’m scared. I don’t want him to die,” the caller is heard saying, between sobs.
While the child was successfully rescued from the water, investigators said that Sasser later died at the local hospital. Authorities said that they are waiting for the official cause of death from the medical examiner.
Police said two first responders and three other people who helped with the rescue were also taken to the hospital for medical examinations. They were all released from the hospital after being examined, police said.
Aside from Guilford County sheriff’s deputies, the Whitsett Fire Department, Guilford County Emergency Medical Services and three other agencies responded to the call.
The boy’s mother, Angel Nicole Sasser, shared a fundraiser on her Facebook page to support her family in the wake of their son’s death.
“My life…my baby…I don’t know how to move forward…” the grieving mother wrote on social media the days following the heartbreaking accident. “I just don’t have words..no energy… nothing… this is all I have at the moment… I love you all. We just want lots of love… hugs… kind words.”
