Earlier this month, country singer Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, lost their three-year-old son in a tragic accident.
In a recent Youtube video, the Smith’s shared with fans and followers that their son, River Kelly Smith, tragically passed away in a drowning accident at their house in Texas.
In the video, Granger details the accident, explaining how the family was spending an evening outside, he was doing gymnastics with his daughter London, while his two sons, River and Lincoln, were playing around with water guns.
In the video, he recalls thinking that he should “soak up this moment because it’s not going to last.”
Minutes later he and his wife were performing CPR on their youngest song beside their family pool.
Granger and Amber explained that they are holding on to the memory of River, and find solace in their faith.
“God gave River to us for three years and that was his mission,” Granger said. “I don’t think God takes anyone too soon. I believe he was put on this earth for the exact amount of time.”
“He lived a good 1,000 days,” Granger continued. “That’s a huge example for me and how we’re going to look at every single day.”
Granger and Amber shared that they were focusing on the time spent that they had with River, and holding onto one another.
“We are stronger than ever. We’ve gotten so close,” Granger said. “We are going to constantly search for the meaning [behind the accident], not the reason, not going to get caught up in the reason because we will never know, but we will find the good.”
Towards the end of the video, Granger added that he was continuing his tour as planned, but that he would not be hosting meet and greets during this leg.
“I’m still going to do music, in fact, I’m going to go back on tour next week and I’m going to bring them with me,” he concluded.
Their faith in God is their stronghold
Granger and Amber Smith’s immense faith in God can be seen through their Youtube video, as well as their Instagram posts.
In a post to Instagram, Granger shared that because of his responsibility as a public figure, he would be opening up about his son’s death.
“The finality and mortality brought on by death makes life feel fragile. It can weaken, terrify and separate those close to it,” he wrote. “But it can also awaken us. It can remind us never to take a moment with those we love for granted.”
“I will focus and then cultivate the light from a dark place, the good from the bad, God’s will from my own plans,” Granger added.
Amber, who shared the same photo as Granger, started her post rhetorically asking “Where do I even begin?”
“This has been the most horrific, life-altering, soul-defining two weeks of our lives,” Amber wrote. “We went from such a happy, fun-loving, exploring, dancing, party of 5, to hitting our knees, praying, asking why God, how God, and to losing our youngest son in a matter of minutes.”
Amber shared that following the accident the family spent two days in the hospital praying for a miraculous healing.
“We had hundreds of prayer warriors behind us, but God had other plans for our angel, bigger plans,” she explained. “If you believe in our God like we do, we know now that Riv was sent to this Earth so we could experience his joy, laughter and love for 3 years.”
“And then Jesus came and took his hand before he went under and took him home,” she shared.
“God didn’t bring our little boy back to us, but God and Riv performed at least 2 other miracles that day for other mamas and daddies praying that someone would help save their child,” Amber explained, referencing River’s organ donations.
She’s experienced “sadness, anger, shock, questioning, fear, hope, the joy of remembering, emptiness, worry, heartbreak, trust in our faith,” and more, but the prayers and love of family and friends has kept them going.
Amber ended her post by sharing a verse: Romans 8:28.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Please keep this heartbroken family in your prayers.