For Chris Daughtry and his family, the events that unfolded Sunday night following the death of their 5-year-old daughter Avery shook the musician to his core.
“This is truly a freak accident,” Daughtry wrote on Instagram Monday alongside a picture of his daughter. “Avery was at our house with her daycare. We were all getting ready to watch our new movie. They were sitting on my chair, letting her climb up on it. It’s an ice skating photo, and it’s so dang cute. Avery reached up and pulled herself up to the chair, she stood up and pushed back on my chair a little bit, and then suddenly she fell to the ground.”
In the post, the 39-year-old singer-songwriter goes on to explain that he called 911 and paramedics arrived at the scene, but wasn’t able to get her life-support machine restarted. An update given in a tweet from his team later that night confirmed that he was taking Avery off life support at the same time the girl passed away.
The devastated father-of-two then went on to explain, in a piece for CMT.com , the tough decision he faced.
“My heart is broken,” he said. “I didn’t get a chance to hug Avery before she passed. She was so full of life.”
“I had to make a very difficult choice that night. I just couldn’t bring myself to let her slip away,” he continued. “I’ve been driving around on the interstate since 5:30 a.m. in tears trying to process this. All I wanted to do was pull over and hug her one last time.”
It hasn’t been easy seeing his little girl go, either.
“My 5-year-old girl is now lying in a hospital bed with tubes everywhere, even her breast pumps are covered by tubes,” Daughtry told CMT. “I feel like a bad parent to have my heart broken like this, and it’s hard to find words to explain it, but I’m not angry, I’m just hurt and there’s a million things I should be feeling and I’m just broken-hearted.”
Daughtry’s wife, Jennifer—the mother of Avery and their son Gunner—announced on Instagram Monday that the 5-year-old had passed away, in a longer post that spelled out more details.
According to the post, Avery was at her grandparents house with her daycare last Sunday when her grandparents, Jennifer’s parents and her aunt were celebrating Thanksgiving at their home when Avery “gave up the fight to survive.”
“She had a hard time breathing and was taken to hospital by ambulance where she passed away soon after,” Jennifer wrote. “There is no other way to put it. I’m beyond devastated. The past two days have been the most difficult of my life.”
Jennifer made it clear that she still has much love for her daughter, in the caption she left behind for him and Gunner.
“I love you!” she wrote. “I miss you so much. And I’m sure your little brother and I will have much fun playing with all our new little nephews.”
Avery will be greatly missed and remembered by her family, friends and fans forever. Our thoughts and prayers go out to them during this difficult time.
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