WALKER, Mich. — Tragedy struck twice in one day for a local family when an infant passed away the same day the family was planning a funeral service for the baby's grandmother.
The mom of two-month-old Emmalynn was trying to figure out how to deal with the passing of her mother. While preparing to leave for the memorial service, tragedy struck again.
"My sister was getting ready to go to her mother's memorial service in Lansing," explained Kristy Hensley, sister of Kelsey Fletcher, Emmalynn's mother.
Losing her mother 18 months prior to AIDS, Kelsey's family had finally raised enough money for a proper funeral.
"I received a frantic phone call from Kelsey at 11:35 a.m. on Thursday," said Chad Dunham, Kelsey's uncle.
Before they left for the funeral, something happened to two month old Emmalynn.
Kelsey said there was something wrong, her baby was turning blue, Dunham said.
"We lost Emmalynn," Hensley said.
According to the medical examiner, the baby died of accidental asphyxiation.
"She just recently got her oldest daughter back three weeks ago, she was in foster care," Hensley said.
"That was a long road of getting her stuff together and making sure she can bring her home and we were finally there with that and we were looking toward the future. We had a new baby in the family and Isabella, her four year old, was home and things were going good."
But now the family is torn apart, trying to cope with another crushing loss.
"I hits so hard when you think of the face and you see it in your heart and your mind and eyes," Dunham said. "You're thinking how can God be that mean to take her?"
The family has set up a Go Fund Me page to help pay for baby Emmalynn's funeral expenses and to help the parents during these difficult times. They're also asking for prayers from the community.
"She was supposed to be burying her mother and now she's burying her daughter," said Hensley. "She's a wreck. We're just taking it one day at a time. I don't know what to do other than that."
You can donate to the family's Go Fund Me page by clicking here.
