A heartbroken mother has shared a serious warning after her twin daughters lost their lives in a shocking incident at their home in 2023.
In a heartbreaking post on social media, Sadie Myers addressed the hidden dangers of what seems like an innocent item in the house. She and her husband, Don Starr, had bought a large cedar chest for toy storage – never expecting the sorrow it would bring.
Sadie recounted how she was at work when her husband put their kids to bed. When she got home, she checked on her little ones before having dinner and going to bed herself.
At some point, Sadie thinks her twins, Kellan and Aurora, got out of bed, possibly to play.
“On Friday night, the strange place they chose to cuddle up and fall asleep was in their cedar toy chest where we keep all their stuffed animals. They took out almost all the stuffed animals, leaving just a couple to make it cozy, and then they laid down inside, head to toe, with one arm over each other, probably saying ‘good night kell kell’ and ‘night night sissy’…” she shared.
“At some point during their sleep, one of them must have moved or kicked in a dream, causing the lid of this old wooden cedar chest to close,” she added.
“What I didn’t know, and I’m sure many others don’t realize, is that most wooden toy chests become AIR TIGHT and soundproof once closed. So as they slept, all cuddled up together, they gradually ran out of oxygen over a few hours and passed away. They didn’t even know it was happening. There was no sudden gasp for air; it was a very slow shift from sleep to passing away.”
When the family woke up on Saturday, they noticed that the twins were not in their beds. In the end, it was one of their siblings who found them in the toy chest.
“Mommy, I found them!” Sadie remembered him saying. “They are so silly just sleeping in the toy box.”
Sadie’s post says: “I rushed in to check and within moments I knew something was off, but I also quickly realized it was already too late… It doesn’t make sense to me and it never will… I hope that sharing this helps in some way, and I hope if you have a toy box like this, you get rid of it right away!!!”
Sadie’s husband Don, on the other hand, delayed expressing his sorrow for a while, holding onto the hope that it was all just a bad dream.
“I guess I was waiting to see if this isn’t an incredibly long, specifically terrible nightmare. But since it’s only getting harder every day and it seems pretty public now anyway, here it goes: My beautiful family has been hit by tragedy — the loss of our beautiful perfect twins,” he wrote.
“Please send all the love, strength, and good vibes you can gather to Sadie, my wonderful big boys, and me — and of course to the rest of the family, who have been a solid support for us and are more loved and appreciated than I can say,” he added.
“Give those kids a hug and a kiss for me — even the grown ones. I love you all.”
Rest in peace, Kellan and Aurora.
