Toddler Dies Days After He Was Found With Head Stuck In Vehicle Window

LAFAYETTE, IN — A 2-year-old boy has died at Riley Children's Hospital one week after he was discovered with his neck stuck in a vehicle's window, NBC Chicago reports. The news outlet said Logan Vanderkleed had been without oxygen for several minutes and had no pulse when he was discovered Aug. 17 in what his family said is an accident. He passed away just after 1 a.m. Thursday morning as family and friends surrounded him in a hospital room, his mother posted on the Facebook page, "Love for Logan," dedicated to updates on the toddler.

"I felt a strong urge to hold Logan," Lisa Vanderkleed wrote on the Facebook page. "He just wanted his mommy. Moments after I got him, he took his last breath. At 1:07 a.m., Logan went to be with the Lord. We are comforted knowing he is the best place possible."

NBC Chicago reports family said the accident happened when Logan's father and grandfather took the toddler and his 5-year-old sister Kendra to a farm where the men work. The kids fell asleep in the car, so the men left the vehicle and air conditioning running while cleaning out a vehicle next to it.

A Facebook post from Logan's mother details what happened when her husband turned to check on the kids just minutes later, writing her husband saw his son, "with his head stuck in the almost completely rolled-up window.” (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Indianapolis Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts and LIKE Indianapolis Patch on Facebook.)

"Our son must have decided to put the window down to look for daddy or tell them something and then somehow rolled it up on himself (the window button on the explorer is a toggle switch so left and right makes it go up and down) which is unlike our other car window in which you actually have to pull up on the lever to move the window. So we are assuming he stuck his head out to look for daddy or tell daddy something and maybe his knee or foot hit the button on the door and he freaked out and couldn't reach it or figure out how to unroll it.”

The day after Logan was taken to Riley, his mother posted an update stating, “The doctors said his brain damage is one of the worst they have seen." She continued to share photos of Logan from the hospital, and detailed updates of the toddler's condition, including MRI information, medical procedures, doctor updates, brain and body movement, and moments of progress and hope when Logan was taken out of the operating room.

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"Well we have a strong fighter with a strong heart," Logan's mother wrote on a Wednesday night Facebook post. "We are out of the operating room because we went over an hour and a half with him breathing on his own. They are not sure if he will be strong enough to continue all night so we are just waiting to figure out what God's plan is. If Logan passes away tonight, he will still be able to donate his heart valves. Please pray for the family in Texas that didn't get their kidney transplant..."

Logan passed away nearly six hours later.

The family has posted a thank you message on the Facebook page to the thousands of people who sent support, love and prayers.

A GoFundMe page was started with a $10,000 goal to help with the family’s medical bills. By Friday afternoon, the page had raised more than $17,100.

More information: Love for Logan Facebook page, nbcchicago.com

(Image via GoFundMe)