Six-year-old boy dies after tragic Sea World toy accident
The six-year-old boy from the Gold Coast who was hospitalised after an incident involving a toy purchased from Sea World had died.
On April 25, Deklan Babington-MacDonald was playing with a stuffed penguin toy at his home in Nerang when he suffered a "severe accident".
The six-year-old was rushed to Queensland Children's Hospital, where doctors told his family he was "beyond recovery".
In an update on the My Cause fundraising page set up for Deklan's mother, it was confirmed his life support was turned off and he died on Friday.
"Deklan passed away on the 30th of April, at Queensland Children’s Hospital, surrounded by his closest family, extended family and some close friends of the family," the fundraiser confirmed.
"Please respect the families privacy and grief at this time. Any details of a memorial will be communicated when appropriate.
"They are reading the beautiful messages of support and love, and appreciate all the kindness and donations."
Toy pulled from Sea World shelves following incident
Following the news of Deklan's critical condition in hospital, Sea World pulled the toy he was playing with at the time of the incident from shelves.
Village Roadshow Theme Parks said in a statement to Yahoo News Australia the company was "distressed" to hear about Deklan.
"As our number one priority is always health and safety, we have removed the toy in question from sale at this time," the statement confirmed.
Village Roadshow Theme Parks said it would be cooperating with the investigation and reaching out to Deklan's family to offer support.
The spokesperson said there will be no further comment until "all the facts are known".
Few details are known as to how Deklan was injured, however family member Lea Williams told NCA Newswire the toy in question was a stuffed penguin wearing a harness attached to a lead.
The lead was stiff with a pole, which came out.
“It broke and turned into basically a long rope with a loop on the end," Ms Williams told NCA Newswire.
"In a very short amount of time Deklan became entangled."
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