Levi Wright, the 3-year-old son of former rodeo world champion Spencer Wright, has died after accidentally driving his toy tractor into a Utah river two weeks ago.
Levi’s mother, Kallie, had shared on social media that the child had shown potential signs of healthy brain activity while in critical condition since the accident on May 21, but posted on Facebook Sunday that “I’ll climb into bed with my baby and hold him as he falls asleep for the last time on this earth.”
“After several sleepless nights, lots of research, multiple conversations with the world’s best neurologists & millions of prayers we are here in the face of our biggest fear,” his mother wrote. “Levi showed us just enough to buy us time for all of this.”
After his near-drowning, the toddler was “quickly located” by first responders who administered “life saving measures” and had Levi airlifted to a Salt Lake City hospital, the Beaver County Sheriff’s Department wrote in a statement at the time.
Family spokesperson Mindy Sue Clark chronicled Levi’s status on Facebook and galvanized hundreds into praying and making charity donations. Kallie noted on May 24 that Levi had “opened his eyes” — and that an MRI would give doctors a clearer picture of his condition.
The heartbroken mom shared later that day that the MRI “wasn’t good,” however, and said the images “suggest a certain quality of life” that left the family “shattered.”
“We prayed those things were him defying odds & proving to us that he wanted to stay here but we see now he wanted to give us time to find peace with letting him go,” Kallie, who shares two other young children with her husband, wrote in her Sunday Facebook post, adding: ”I truly believe he did that for us.”
Marie D. De Jesús/Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images
Spencer Wright, who was ranked 35th in the world in 2023 by ProRodeo and became World Champion in 2014, shared a family portrait including Levi in cowboy gear mere weeks before the accident. He has not shared a public reaction to Levi’s death.
In Sunday’s Facebook post, Kallie shared appreciation that the tragedy “dropped so many to their knees” and “reminded them what truly matters in this world.”