Ex-college football star’s wife shares her anguish after son, 2, died in drowning accident: ‘Miss him so much it hurts’
Kimberly Brown, the wife of former BYU football star Curtis Brown, has shared a heartbreaking post reflecting on the death of their 2-year-old son.
Haze drowned in the family’s Clovis, California swimming pool on Sunday, July 26. The toddler was spotted unresponsive in the pool by a family member who called first responders.
After receiving the report at around 8:00 p.m., first responders arrived and attempted CPR but were unable to revive the toddler. He was declared deceased after being rushed to hospital by ambulance, before a local police detective determined there were no suspicious circumstances after being called to the scene.
‘It’s an extremely unfortunate situation,’ Clovis Police Department spokesman Ty Wood told the outlet. ‘Adults should never let children swim unsupervised and should always learn CPR and keep safety and rescue equipment nearby.’
Kimberly has now shared the painful reality of their adjustment to life without Haze alongside a picture of the smiling toddler before his death.
‘I miss my baby. I miss him so much it physically hurts. Our bright light and source of pure joy is gone,’ she began.
Kimberley Brown shared a heartbreaking post after her son, Haze, drowned last month
Haze, 2, died in a tragic drowning accident at the family’s swimming pool in Clovis, California
The Brown family is mourning after the tragic loss of the youngest member of their family
‘I’m writing this from the floor of his room, surrounded by his things. Looking at all the little pieces of him that are still everywhere. His clothes. His basketball hoop. His blanket. All the things that were just part of our everyday life.
‘I keep expecting to hear him. To see those soft curls bouncing as he runs. To hear his little laugh. To squeeze him tight. To kiss his cheeks. To tell him I love him. And then I remember.
‘I don’t know how you survive this. I don’t know how I’m supposed to wake up every morning and live my worst nightmare. I don’t know how a heart is supposed to hold this much pain.
‘Haze was supposed to grow up with his brothers and sister. He was supposed to run to them when they got home from school with the biggest hug. Sit on the sidelines and cheer them on. The boys were so excited to teach him everything they knew – to make him better than they were.
‘He was supposed to keep making us laugh, dancing around, stealing sips of my Diet Coke, shooting baskets, and making our life better and brighter simply by being him. He was supposed to grow up knowing just how incredibly loved he was.
‘People say they wish they could have one more day with the person they lost. But I don’t want one more day. I want forever. I want every ordinary day we were supposed to have. I want the messy days and the loud days and the hard days and the beautiful days.
‘I want to watch him grow up. I want to watch his siblings love him through every stage of his life. I want to hear his laugh when he’s 5, 10, 15. I want to watch him become whoever he was meant to be.
‘I want all the days. I want my baby back. I would give anything in this world for the life we were supposed to have.’
Dad Curtis Brown was a football star at BYU, where he became the Cougars’ leading rusher
Kimberley shared the reality of trying to adjust to life without their youngest son
Haze was the youngest of five children to the couple, who also have 13-year-old triplets, Julie, Cruze and Kash and a 12-year-old son, Trey.
Brown was a star running back at BYU from 2002 to 2006, setting a school record for rushing yards with 3,221, later broken by Harvey Unga then Jamaal Williams.
After going undrafted in the 2007 NFL Draft, he signed with the Cincinnati Bengals and played in four preseason games but ultimately did not make the 53-man roster, ending his football career. He now works in pharmaceutical sales at Clovis.
A GoFundMe page set up to help the family in the aftermath of Haze’s death has raised $101,490 at the time of writing.
