Levi Wright’s mother reveals how rodeo star’s son fell into the creek where he drowned while driving his toy tractor around their Utah home

Levi Wright’s mother has revealed the heartbreaking truth about how the toddler fell into the creek where he drowned.

Kallie Wright dived in to rescue the three-year-old after he disappeared beneath the fast-flowing waters on their property in Milford, Utah, on May 21.

He survived 12 days in hospital with flickers of hope that he could regain brain function, until his life support was turned off on Sunday.

Kallie on Thursday explained in detail for the first time how Levi fell into the creek while driving his toy tractor around their 24 acres of land.

She explained the creek separated the property of she and husband, rodeo star Spencer Wright, from that of Levi’s grandparents.

There is a road that crosses the creek that, depending on water level, occasionally covers the road at the crossing – as it did on May 21.

‘My kids have [ridden] their bikes, driven their ride on toys and even walked this way a million times,’ she wrote on Facebook.

‘Water only runs through for a short time during the year and can change overnight.

‘Levi did not do anything he hasn’t done before, but this time the water was at its peak and strong enough to push his tractor off the road into the creek as he drove through.’

Kallie, not knowing the water level, told Levi not to go over the creek as his grandmother wasn’t home, and to just ride around the house.

However, Levi, being a free-spirited toddler, didn’t listen. 

‘As he drove off, I ran back in the house. That’s a decision that will haunt me for the rest of my life,’ Kallie wrote.

‘In that moment he was my responsibility alone. Whether I went back to check on my sleeping baby, swap the laundry, wash a bottle or put away lunch, I honestly don’t know.

‘Whatever it was, wasn’t more important than following him that day.’

Kallie wrote that though she believed that God predetermined the outcome of everyone’s lives, including when they would end, it still kept her up at night.

‘I will lose sleep over this for eternity but with this I know three things to be true,’ she wrote, sending a message to people who criticized her actions that day.

‘One, I am not a perfect mom but I am a good mom. Two, my little boy loved me with all he had.

‘Three, never say never because it only takes seconds and it can happen to you too. 

‘I pray anyone who judges me or has hurtful words to say never finds themselves on the receiving end of a nightmare like this.’

The dinosaur-loving little boy was taken by ambulance to Beaver County hospital before being airlifted to the Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

The initial prognosis was devastating as doctors concluded he suffered brain death due to oxygen deprivation while underwater.

But his heart was beating on its own and Levi’s dad said the family ‘received multiple small miracles’ and doctors were ‘surprised by the strides he has made’.

Then on May 24, the family thought they had been granted the miracle they were praying for.

‘LEVI WOKE UP!’ Kallie posted, ‘I am shook, we don’t know much but the doctor said it was okay for me to get excited about that and I AM! My baby is so tough!

‘He got a little wild so we had to settle him down again but my heart!

‘He actually woke up during us talking to one of the doctors about his love of excavators and tractors!’

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But just hours later they received much sadder news.

‘The MRI wasn’t good,’ Kallie wrote.

‘We’re shattered but it is just images that suggest a certain quality of life. Our real teller of all will be what Levi does over the course of a few days.’

Kallie posted again last Thursday when another brain scan showed little improvement.

‘They are keeping Levi comfortable, they attempted to wean sedation and he did not handle it,’ she wrote. 

‘It was heartbreaking to watch and he is now heavily sedated until the next step.’

Finally on Sunday, Kallie and Spencer made the decision they had been dreading.  

‘After several sleepless nights, lots of research, multiple conversations with the world’s best neurologists and millions of prayers we are here in the face of our biggest fear,’ she wrote.

‘Here soon I’ll climb into bed with my baby and hold him as he falls asleep for the last time on this earth.

‘Levi showed us just enough to buy us time for all of this.

‘We prayed those things were him defying odds and 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.

‘I told you my baby was thoughtful and considerate, I truly believe he did that for us.’

Family friend Mindy Sue Clark broke the news of Levi’s death in a Facebook post at 8.14am on Monday.

‘I don’t want to focus on the bad or sad, even though it feels like someone ripped my heart out and squeezed it right in front of me,’ she wrote.

‘I want to focus on the many miracles we all got to bear witness to in those 12 days. The response Levi’s story got was absolutely incredible. 

‘Levi Spencer Wright – March 24, 2021 – June 02, 2024. The most perfect three-year-old there ever was. So perfect we didn’t get to keep him.

‘I don’t want to focus on the bad or sad, even though it feels like someone ripped my heart out and squeezed it right in front of me.

‘Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people surrounded our best little buddy, lifted him up in prayer, and threw their loving arms around Levi and his family.

‘We’ve never seen or experienced anything like it. I don’t know that we will ever be able to process it fully.

‘I am so thankful for all the time I got to be his ‘aunt Mindy’. That is a blessing I will never be able to top.’

Friends rallied round with a series of fundraisers for Kallie, Spencer and their two other children, leaving the family amazed at the outpouring of love.

‘During this time he brought out humanity across the nation, he dropped so many to their knees and reminded them what truly matters in this world,’ Kallie wrote.

‘We will miss him every second of every day down here but feel without unwavering doubt this is the best thing we can do for him.

‘We love you baby beans. Going to miss you like crazy buddy!’