3-Year-Old Who Drowned In A Pool Becomes Youngest Organ Donor, 'An Angel In The Heavens, A Hero On Earth'

The news about a 3-year-old boy who drowned in a resort in Ilocos Norte while celebrating his birthday last November 6 broke the hearts of many parents.

How could this happen, and for what purpose? While no one has the answer to this, the little boy's parents find solace in knowing that he will never be forgotten and will forever be remembered as a hero.

Jennae Rosario, the mother of Ezra Jacob Rosario, granted Smart Parenting the permission to share their story. This is to raise awareness on child safety and more importantly, to honor the life of her son. 

"Ultimately, it was our fault as his parents and we feel that we failed him. But we do not ever want this to happen to another family in the future, since there are a lot of other factors rin that could have prevented this from happening," Jennae told Smart Parenting.

The drowning incident

In a Facebook post on November 12, Jennae wrote a note about the accident that would eventually take away her son.

"On Sunday, November 6th, Ezra was involved in a drowning accident while we were celebrating their 3rd birthday at a resort here in the Philippines.

As soon as he was found unresponsive and floating lifeless in the water, family members performed CPR and was able to revive him within 2 minutes. We rushed him to the ER at the nearest hospital and from there, life-saving measures were done to stabilize him.

Unfortunately, he needed to be intubated and sedated but from there, we saw signs of improvement as our little man is never short of being a strong fighter. His doctors and nurses were the best in the area but unfortunately, he also needed equipment and level of care that can be provided only in Manila where there are better facilities and services.

Our family quickly rounded up the funds to secure a private charter plane and med air team (doctor, RT, and nurse) to airlift us to Manila so that he can be transferred to St. Luke’s Medical Center.

Unfortunately, upon arrival in Manila, due to the risk of transporting him in his condition, Ezra crashed while being stabilized at the PICU. They performed CPR on him and gave him 15 doses of epinephrine for 45 minutes until his pulse was restored. They had to reinsert all his IV lines and reintubate him as they all came out during the transport."

Jennae said, Ezra's condition stabilized. Although he had a swollen liver, his kidneys and heart were normal. Ezra woke up an hour after the procedures and even became responsive.

The little boy joined his Creator

However, on November 12, six days after the drowning incident, Jennae announced that Ezra passed away. 

"Our dear brave, sweet, kind little boy Ezra has flown up to the skies and joined the angels and his creator.

Yesterday, our dear boy was pronounced brain-dead for the second time. After the initial call, we made another push to fight on. His brain continued to deteriorate although his organs were healing perfectly.

After numerous attempts, they couldn’t find any more brain activity, his heart became reliant on dopamine and epinephrine, his temperature kept dropping, and there was no longer spontaneous breathing. No amount of science and money could save our boy, as they say, in the end, God’s will shall prevail.

"He is such a bright light that will shine on forever. There ain’t no other like him.

This is the most painful, excruciating experience we never imagined we have to endure. Our baby boy was called back to heaven when all we wanted to do was give him everything that would make him happy. The pain makes us feel so defeated, guilty, and angry at everything."

Jennae said, a day before Ezra's accident was their church wedding day. "It was supposedly the best day of our lives as we had planned it for years. The day before was also the last time it had been just the four of us for a moment- JC, Elijah, Ezra and I were in the car and I remember saying- “This (the wedding) is our family’s biggest day”. They quickly understood and said they’ll behave. I remember the priest left us with three gifts- integrity/fidelity, generosity, and love. Looking back now I think we understand a bit why this transpired."

"Ezra has touched so many lives in such a short time. JC and I would even say that- “He has touched more lives than we have in just three years”. He had an authentic charm and a direct way to anyone’s heart. He was easy to love, he was a good and intelligent boy, he had an incredible level of spunk and wit, he was simply the joy of our lives. He is such a bright light that will shine on forever. There ain’t no other like him."

Youngest organ donor in the Philippines

Jennae also shared that their family decided to donate Ezra's kidney and corneas. On November 23, she posted an update about the beneficiaries of her son's organs.

"Though he is physically gone, he is also, in some way, walking, living, and seeing life through others."

"Ezra’s kidneys (both left and right) were successfully transplanted to a 24-year old recipient on the same day of harvesting last November 12th.

We were just informed that his corneas were recently distributed successfully to two recipients- a 22-year old and a 3-year old recipient and they are now recovering from the procedure."

"The pain of losing him is massive and has definitely impacted us in so many ways. No words can explain how we feel and only time can tell how and when we can start to heal. The thought of our son being able to successfully extend and improve the quality of lives of others is a gift, as though he is physically gone, he is also, in some way, walking, living, and seeing life through others."

Ezra was then hailed by the National Kidney Transplant Institute as the youngest organ donor in the Philippines, and the first pedia organ donor at St. Luke’s Medical Center.

"What an honor to have a hero for a son," Jennae said.

Moving forward

Jennae wrote, "We don’t know what happens from now on, and how we will be able to live on without Ezra physically by our side. All we know is that we can direct all our love to his twin Elijah and focus on his well-being- he will definitely need us through this difficult time.

We will make sure Eli knows, and the world knows, that his twin brother, Ezra, is a fighter, a brave, strong, kind, generous boy who fought his hardest battle and ultimately won through his generosity and love. He is a HERO.

Jennae calls on those who knew Ezra to remember him in his best, "Please always remember him as we do- our brown-eyed boy, sweet, kind and caring Ezra. Mommy’s mini-me. He loved Paw Patrol, Thomas the Train, and Dinosaurs. He was happy with balloons and bubbles. He would eat anything- grapes, oranges, blueberries, blackberries, breakfast and milk. He loved the color blue. He loved to color and do water play.

We thank each and everyone who’ve reached out and provided support during this difficult time. We continuously ask for your prayers as our family will be going through grief and suffering for quite a while."

Jennae generously shared with Smart Parenting some safety precautions for parents especially when kids are in pool or beach areas:

• Never leave a child unattended around pool areas
• Make sure the child is always wearing a floatation device while around the pool area
• Learn CPR in case of any emergency
• Strongly advocate for mandatory lifeguards and better lighting around pool/reception/ event spaces. 

May you rest in paradise, dear Ezra. Your story of bravery lives on.