Lafayette boy dies after neck caught in car window
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) – A tragic accident had a 2-year-old Lafayette boy fighting for his life. He wasn’t alone in his battle. Logan Vanderkleed’s family said Logan felt the love as he took his last breath on Wednesday.
Logan Vanderkleed loved to say his prayers.
“Amen,” he said in a home video taken back in April.
He learned how to pray from his parents, but sometimes it felt like he was the teacher.
“It’s crazy coming from a 2-year-old,” Logan’s mother, Lisa Vanderkleed, said. “He was always encouraging us to pray in the morning if we forgot in the rush of the morning.”
The Vanderkleeds turned to prayer, and so did thousands of others after Logan accidentally rolled up the car window on his neck on Aug. 17, leaving his brain without oxygen for too long. He was in the hospital about a week and in that time, a Love for Logan Facebook page kept more than 42,000 followers up to date on his condition.
“I think it’s my way of like grieving through that process,” Lisa said. “You’re in the hospital 24/7 and your mind is going from the worst to the best to the worst to the best so that gave me that chance to get away for a bit.”
Nurses told the family they had never seen so many get-well cards. Purdue University football players sent their love and so did thousands of others.
“I love my boy,” said Logan’s father, Drew Vanderkleed.
Logan wasn’t shy by any means. He loved everyone he knew and didn’t know.
“Seems like everywhere we went he would just light up the room,” Logan’s father said. “Loved giving high-fives and giving people hugs. Usually had to say goodbye to everybody, you know, if we were at the co-op or at McDonald’s. He liked saying bye to people.”
But it was hard to say goodbye to Logan. He is loved and missed by thousands.
“As much as I didn’t want what happened to happen, God used him in this amazing way,” Logan’s mother said. “Wish he could have been used here more and longer. But yeah, he’s a special boy I can see why he’s back up in heaven.”