It was just the day before he would have been 7 months old when Sloan DeRosier was tragically found by his mother, Jordan, dead in his sleep.
“I was the one who found Sloan,” Jordan details in a gut-wrenching Facebook post of the morning her son died.
“I went in to get him from his crib at 9:48 a.m., opened the door and noticed he was on his stomach with his beloved blankie around only his head. I yanked it off, touched his back and felt that he was ice cold. I flipped him over and a blood curdling scream for Justin escaped me. His face and chest were completely purple on one side. His lips blue. His eyes closed. Justin came running in and I handed Sloan over to him. I remember the animalistic scream of “No!” that came out of Justin over and over. I remember him laying Sloan on the kitchen counter, trying to perform CPR while on the phone with 911. I was still screaming.”
When paramedics arrived, they performed CPR on the lifeless infant for another 30 minutes before telling the hysterical parents there was nothing more they could do.
Sloan was gone.
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Hours passed as family, investigators, medical examiners and chaplains arrived at the DeRosiers’ home. The devastated parents clutched their son in their hands for as long as they could—holding him for one last time.
“I wrapped Sloan in (a blanket) and I traced all of his face with my fingers over and over, kissed his forehead, and rocked him,” said DeRosier. “Then it was time. We kissed him…they took him out of my reluctant arms and the examiner started unfolding an infant-sized body bag.”
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department of Puyallup, Washington, is still investigating the incident, but released a statement confirming that the infant’s death “appears to be accidental.”
Now, Jordan wants other moms to know how they can potentially prevent her unfathomable heartache from happening to them.
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Sloan’s death was preventable—which almost makes the sting of his passing that much worse.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for safe sleeping practices, parents should avoid using soft objects or lose bedding in infant cribs. The organization warns things such as pillows, quilts, comforters, bumper pads and stuffed toys can cause your baby to suffocate.
Jordan hopes sharing their heartbreaking experience will help spread crib safety awareness.
“If his story saves even one other life, then his life meant something incredible,” Jordan told TODAY.
Since first sharing her post, the grieving mother says she’s received supportive messages from parents all over the world telling her that they removed soft objects from their infants’ cribs after reading her story.