A family was devastated after they found out that their son passed away during the night when he slipped and fell while playing in his room, according to multiple reports.
Metro reported that Issac Lyons, who became captivated by Roman history during a family trip to Hadrian Wall in Cumbria, had donned a Roman soldier costume when he couldn’t sleep. However, he slipped and fell.
The next morning, when Claire and Mike Lyons went to wake up their oldest child, they found him dead in his room, wearing the Roman costume that he donned the night before, the news outlet reported.
“What we think happened is he could not sleep because he was so excited. He had got up, taken off his pajamas, and dressed up as a Roman,” Claire said, according to Nottinghamshire Live.
“It was an accident, he slipped while playing. He died instantly. How does your child die in his own bedroom and we didn’t know? I don’t think I will ever come to terms with this. I thought I would hear a shout,” she said, according to Nottinghamshire Live. “It was tragic and sudden.”
To Claire and Mike, Issac was a kind child with an extraordinary imagination, The Sun reported. They said that he was also a special child—he was a rainbow baby, meaning that he was born as a healthy baby straight after a miscarriage.
The Lyons, who loved Marvel and superheroes, viewed Issac as their own personal superhero, according to The Sun.
The Lyons said their son, who had been very fascinated by superheroes as well as hero movies, had written superhero stories of his own. Issac would fill the house with his own superhero drawings, among other items that he decorated the house with. He was deeply caring about others and always thought about other people.
“He was our superhero. He was everything to us. It was an awful loss and a waste of a wonderful young man,” Claire said.
Mike, who had also commented on the kind nature of his oldest son, said, “if we wasted any food, he would get upset because there was people in the world that didn’t have any. He was very thoughtful and kind.
“His future plan was to buy the house next door to ours so he could look after his grandparents and not have to move away from us,” Mike said.
“If he was interested in something, it would be his whole world and he was deeply caring of others,” Mike said, in reference to Issac’s kind nature and determination, according to The Mirror. “If an advert for UNICEF came on, he would be in floods of tears and want us to give them money or he would find a toy he could donate.”
Issac’s death left a big gap and hole in their our hearts, they told the Mirror.
Claire said that even though they were devastated now, they will move on from it in the future.
“He was playing, having, and then it stopped. In time … it will be a comfort that he did not suffer,” she said, The Mirror reported.
After the news of Isaac’s death spread, people expressed their sympathy for the family and offered their condolences. Issac’s death also happened two days before Grace’s birthday. During the celebration of their daughter’s birthday, the family received an overwhelming amount of kindness and compassion from all sorts of people—even people they didn’t know.
“[Grace] had three cakes. We feel very cared for. We have been overwhelmed by the kindness of people who know us and people we have never met,” Claire said.
According to The Mirror, Issac’s funeral will take place on Sept. 21. A JustGiving page had also been set up for the family, and the fundraiser had already gotten £5,000 ($6,133).