Country singer Granger Smith announced on social media Thursday that his youngest son, River Kelly Smith, had died at the age of 3.
Smith said in an Instagram post that the death was due to a “tragic accident.”
The boy drowned at the family’s home, according to Jay Jones of BBR Music Group, which represents Smith.
He is asking fans to, instead of gifts, send donations to Dell Children’s Medical Center in Texas in his son’s honor.
”Amber and I made the decision to say our last goodbyes and donate his organs so that other children will be given a second change at life,” Smith wrote in a statement Thursday.
“Our family is devastated and heartbroken, but we take solace in knowing he is with his Heavenly Father,” Smith wrote in the statement.
Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death for children ages 1 to 4, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Granger Smith (@grangersmith) on
Smith canceled his CMA Fest performance this weekend at the the Chevy Riverfront Stage following the news of his son’s death.
Fellow country artists have taken to social media to express their condolences to Smith and his family.
Smith is most known for his hit songs “If the Boot Fits” and “Backroad Song.” The BBR Music Group Recording artist also portrays the character Earl Dibbles, Jr., a good old country boy with a social media following of more than 7 million and more than 1 billion video views. His fans are known as the Yee Yee Nation.
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