"I love you to the moon and back."
Those were the last words that Stacy Halsted heard her two-year-old son say before she drove off to work on October 29, 2012.
A few hours after Stacy dropped Tripp Halsted at a daycare in Winder, Georgia, she received the phone call that would change her family's life.
"They said Tripp had an accident and I needed to come right there," she told WXIA. "I didn't even ask how bad it was. In my mind, I was thinking, "˜Great, he broke his arm or leg,' nothing tragic."
The concerned mother rushed to the hospital only to be told the unthinkable: her son may not survive.
Turns out, a tree branch had fallen on Tripp's head, which has caused swelling in his brain, forcing his body to shut down.
But Tripp was a fighter, and was not ready to throw in the towel.
Road to recovery
Despite his poor prognosis, Tripp managed to wake up. He had a tough road to recovery ahead of him, but with the support of his family and the hundreds of thousands who follow his journey on Facebook, nothing could stop him.
Stacy regularly documented her son's progress on the Tripp Halsted Updates Facebook page, and although some days were rough, Tripp seemed to have been on the mend.
For nearly six years, we had the pleasure of seeing photos of Tripp growing up and even attending school.
His parents had so much hope about his future, especially after he had "his best year yet" in 2017.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for 2018.
Failing health
Tripp's health saw a decline at the beginning of the year, starting with "episodes of pneumonia."
In a post earlier this month, Stacy also noted that she hadn't "seen a genuine smile" on her son's face since summer. "He just hasn't had that contentment that we saw before and it is breaking my heart a little more each day."
Unfortunately, Tripp's state only worsened.
On March 15, Stacy went to wake Tripp up for school when she noticed that he was having trouble breathing, despite being hooked up to the oxygen machine.
He was immediately taken to the ER, where he was scheduled to undergo "lung washing" to clear any mucus buildup.
Sadly, their efforts weren't enough to keep Tripp alive. The seven-year-old passed away due to the complications, and his mother once again took to Facebook to share the heartbreaking update.
A final update
After nearly six years of sharing their ups and downs with supportive strangers on Facebook, Stacy and Tripp's father, Bill, took to the social media platform one more time to break the news of their son's death.
"There are no words to express how Bill and I are feeling at this moment," read the somber status update. "We are beyond devastated and honestly I believe I am in shock. Our amazing, perfect, beautiful miracle of a son, Tripp Hughes Halstead passed away at 5:47 pm today. He was our whole world."
"We love you Trippadoo and you will never realize the impact you made on our lives," it continued.
Stacy revealed that she's unsure when she'll post again because both she and Bill have a lot to process.
Although it isn't the official cause of death, it appears as though his heart gave out after working hard to fight the last infection.
Stacy added, "Bill and I were in the room when he passed at the hospital. His little body was just done fighting this last infection. His little heart gave out. This winter was brutal for him."
The grieving mother explained that she won't be reading comments at this time, but she promised to go over them in "the coming weeks."
"You have been the most loyal and outstanding followers we could have ever asked for and We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the past 5 1/2 years. You let us into your lives and You were there when we needed you most," Stacy concluded the message.
We can't even begin to imagine everything Stacy, Bill and their family are going through. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this extremely difficult time.