STANSBURY PARK, Utah — An 8-year-old boy who was critically injured earlier this week after falling off a Stansbury Park school slide has died of his injuries, family officials said Wednesday.
Dallin Cunningham fell to the ground Monday morning while coming down the slide in the Rose Springs Elementary School playground. It's not known what led to the fall or how Cunningham landed, but the ground underneath the slide was made of bark, not concrete.
After falling from the slide, the third-grader at the school was unconscious and needed life-saving measures from a responding deputy before he was transported to the hospital in critical condition.
"When I heard what happened, I couldn’t even breathe. His family didn’t need this," said family friend, Katrina Orr.
The Tooele County School District did not provide any additional details about Dallin's fall, but said they were "deeply saddened" about his death.
"He had such a bright life. He was so full of joy," shared Orr. "It was just a freak accident. The parents don’t blame anybody."
The Cunningham's bishop shared a statement, saying, "It has been a heartbreaking experience and we will never be the same. He was a bright, vibrant boy with the best smile and laugh."
Dallin was the youngest of four children and the only boy.
"You could say he almost lived ten lifetimes for how much he loved," added Orr.
A GoFundMe page has been created by a friend of the Cunningham family to help with medical and funeral costs.
"[Dallin] leaves behind a big hole in our hearts. He was a rambunctious little 8 year old boy who loved video games, Star Wars, acting in his sisters' home movies and board games. He made friends with everyone he met and was super outgoing. He loved everyone, but most especially his family and his Heavenly Father," the page reads.
It will be through the people and things that Dallin loved that Orr said he will be remembered most.
"Now, whenever we open the boxes, we find missing pieces or things that had been swapped between the board games. I know he’s here."
