Rodeo star's son remembered by family on 1-year anniversary of drowning death

Fox News

2 days ago

One year after saddle bronc champion Spencer Wright's 3-year-old son tragically drowned in a Utah river, his mother reflected on the final moments they spent holding him.
"A year ago, today, we held you as you took your last breaths," Kallie Wright wrote on Monday, June 2, in a post on Instagram alongside a photo of her and her husband with their young son, Levi, in his hospital bed.
The child was removed from life support last year, about two weeks after he drove his toy tractor into the water while playing at his home in May 2024.
Kallie shared that they held their son as he took his "last breaths."
"They said it could take a day or 2. I was so scared I wouldn't be holding you when you left and that was so important to me," she wrote. "You stayed with us [for] 17 minutes. As you left, an overwhelming feeling came over me [and] I knew we had done right by you."
"For me, this isn't the day you fully left us, but the day it became official," she said. "Levi, we talk about and think of you everyday. We live for you! Our love for you is stronger than ever."
The family remained hopeful about their son's plight over a week following the accident, writing on social media that they aim to wean the boy off his breathing tube. However, on June 2, 2024, Kallie announced that "after several sleepless nights, lots of research, multiple conversations with the world's best neurologists & millions of prayers," the family knew it was "time."
"Levi showed us just enough to buy us time for all of this," she wrote. "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."
The accident came after the young boy fell off his toy tractor and into a river on the family's property in Utah. The toddler was airlifted to Beaver Valley Hospital after the accident in Beaver Creek on May 21, Fox News Digital previously reported.
He remained in critical condition there until the family made the decision to take the boy off life support.
Following his death, the family launched The Levi Wright Foundation, "where we hope to help families that face similar unimaginable situations in his memory," according to the organization's Facebook page.
The Levi Wright Memorial Barrel Race is the group's next organized event.
The toddler's father is ranked No. 40 in the world in saddle bronc riding. His grandfather, Bill Wright, is in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Spencer and his three brothers made history in 2014 when all four qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. He ultimately won the championship.
The family was the subject of the book "The Last Cowboys" and has been featured on an episode of "60 Minutes."