Posted on 03/11/2008 1:56:35 PM PDT by kingattax
SEATTLE - The 10-year-old boy who was critically injured when his playmates buried him head-first in a sandbox has died.
Codey Porter died at at 3:35 p.m. on Monday at Children's Hospital in Seattle. His family said the boy passed peacefully with his loved ones by his side.
Codey had been listed in critical condition at the hospital since Saturday's incident.
His half-brother, 30-year-old Joshua Quantrille, says Codey was playing with Quantrille's three sons and several other children on Saturday in the back yard of a home belonging to a family friend, in the 13800 block of 59th Ave. SE in unincorporated Everett.
There is a sandbox in the backyard, and Quantrille says his children told him Codey came up with the idea that they should bury him head first in the one-foot-deep sandbox.
Quantrille says the children came up with the idea from 'Naruto,' a cartoon about sand ninjas they watch on television.
Codey was buried about from his head to his chest. At some point, he began thrashing around, but the children apparently thought he was playing.
Eventually they figured out that something was wrong. They pulled Codey out and called the adults inside the home, who administered CPR until medics arrived.
Codey was first taken to an Everett hospital and later transferred to Children's Hospital.
Snohomish County Sheriff's deputies interviewed the five children who were in the sandbox with Codey. Friends told deputies they didn't know Codey couldn't breathe until they pulled him out. The sheriff's office has called it a tragic accident.
Friends describe Codey as a friendly and active boy and said they're heartbroken by the tragedy.
"He was a really energetic kid, hyper kid and really outgoing," said neighbor Aaron Mattern.
"My heart just sank because we had just seen the family Thursday," said Christy Peters, who knows Cody from the neighborhood YMCA.
Codey's outgoing personality shone last fall when he was featured on KOMO 4's "Northwest Afternoons" as a cook. At the time his mother worked for Fisher Communications, which owns KOMO (Seattle), KATU (Portland) and a number of other television stations.
District leaders brought in counselors to help Codey's fellow fifth graders at Silver Firs Elementary School deal with the news of the tragedy.
Codey's family has decided to honor his memory by donating his organs.
A memorial fund has been set up for Codey on the Gold Creek Community Church's Web site. Contributors will be asked to create an account on the Web site for security reasons.

Codey Porter was featured on KOMO 4's "Northwest Afternoon" as a cook last fall
|
Prayers for little Codey....
These types of stories are so damnably heartbreaking, it’s hard to put into words.
All of those kids in the backyard, and not a single adult supervising them?
What a senseless tragedy.
10 year old kids do not “pass away” peacefully.
My heart goes out to this family. God Bless Them.
HOWEVER!!! Hide your sandbox. Because the liberals pretty soon will almost certainly try to outlaw them. Mark my word. Who wants to bet?
The poor kid looks to have been murdered by his tormentors who decided to reinvent their bullying as “all in good fun” after the fact.
I don’t think at 10 constant supervision is called for. This is a tragic accident, not an opportunity to point out failings.
Gob bless that little boy and his family.
This is so sad. I am a Naruto fan, It’s a violent anime, but also has a good message about friendship, and responsibility. With that said, this is just a tragedy. I hope the parents don’t blame themselves.
Prayers for the family.
“I dont think at 10 constant supervision is called for. This is a tragic accident, not an opportunity to point out failings.”
I know I was out deep in the woods running around and playing bb gun wars when I was 10. I was doing all kinds of stupid stuff, thanks be to God for his protection. This is so sad.
If it’s one 10 year-old only, I could see your point, but that many kids, at least should require one adult watching them.
They left out the part where the other kids held him down while he struggled to get his head out of the sand.
I expect this is a case of fatal bullying and the adults were just stupid enough to buy the story the other kids told about how it happened.
At that age, some of the kids would “break” under questioning if they were all lying. I just think sometimes kids do really friggin stupid things, and horribly, sometimes you die when you do stupid things.
Being a parent can be so scary.
Huh?! Are you nuts?
I disagree with you. At 10, I was babysitting other kids. I’m sure the parents wish someone was watching closely though.
It sounds like a terrible accident, that’s all. God bless this boy and his family. The boys playing with him will have to live with this the rest of their lives. My prayers to them as well.
Sad Washington ping.
I disagree. If an enclosed back yard and a sand box are not safe for a group of 10-year olds; then I turn in my parent license because I would judge that as perfectly fine. That said, that must have been one deep sand box; did he stand on his head? Were his hands tied? I’m finding this hard to picture.
((prayers))
Like a bucket of water, surprisingly it doesn’t take deep sand for someone to drown in it.
I recently read an article about how many children each year drown in holes dug at the beach! It blew my mind-—and no one seems to know about it.
The usual problem is the sand caves in and the child’s head go under. I guess the child also may “gasp” and then inhale sand. But in any event, in the minutes it takes to be pulled out, the child can easily suffocate.
One of the stories in the article was about a 17-year old playing football on the beach. He ran to catch a pass, lept into the air and fell into a huge hole someone had dug for fun. The bottom of the hole, of course, was very soft and he sunk into it. At the same time, the impact caused the sides of the holes to fall down a little, covering his head. His friends were there in a flash pulling him up, but he had already suffocated.
I’ve always thought it was rude of people to dig huge holes at the beach and then just leave them there for someone to stumble into or whatever.
FMCDH
Abstract. Sand aspiration is a rare but life-threatening event that occurs in the pediatric and adult populations after cave-ins or near drownings. We report the case of a 10-year-old boy who suffered from aspiration of particulate matter after being buried in sand. In addition, we performed a literature review regarding similar cases and their treatment of aspiration of significant amounts of particulate matter.
Accidental Burials in Sand: A Potentially Fatal Summertime Hazard
Study finds holes dug in dry-sand beach can collapse and suffocate
Digging holes in dry sand, a frequent activity for children during a day at the beach, carries a risk of sudden death and other dangers, says a Brown University medical student whose study appears in the current Journal of the American Medical Association.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROVIDENCE, R.I. A tranquil beach day can turn tragic when a large hole dug by a child in dry sand collapses and swallows the youngster, according to a new study of such catastrophes.
Its probably the last thing on the mind of parents, said lead author Bradley A. Maron, a second-year student in the Brown Medical School. This study is not meant to eclipse water safety or other beach concerns. But we want parents to know that something completely recreational can lead to instant tragedy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.