While most of us celebrated a happy Mother’s Day this past weekend, one family suffered an unthinkable tragedy. Reporter David Haldane has the story…
Mother’s Day. It’s a holiday that means different things to different people, mostly having to do with flowers, chocolate, nurturance and love.
For Brent Slavik, a civilian mechanic at the Marine Corps. Air Base in Twentynine Palms, all that changed in an instant on Sunday. That’s the day he woke up to find his 12-year-old daughter dead in her bed.
Amanda Slavik was a bright, happy seventh grader despite having suffered from epilepsy for the past five years. She’d had seizures before. This one, doctors believe, stopped her heart while she was sleeping.
“I tried to pick her up and she was so heavy.”
That’s Brent, who later held his daughter’s still-warm hand as doctors pronounced her dead. Also present was Grandma Slavik, the only real mom she’d ever known, whose flower-adorned Mother’s Day card was the last thing she signed.
What would Brent say to other parents?
“Love your kids. You never know what’s gonna happen.”
Anyone who feels moved to help or contribute can make a donation to the Epilepsy Foundation which, among other things, supports research on the disease. Here is their link:
https://epilepsyfoundation.secure.force.com/EpilepsyPublicDonationPage?form=a04i000000xepYL
