A family in Arizona is looking for answers after their 2-year-old son mysteriously died after attending a dentist appointment.
“Everything about him was just lovely,” Zion’s grandmother, Norma Yarrito told the ABC affiliate. “A lovely, lovely little boy.”
Zion seemed to stop breathing either during or after the procedure, according to the family.
He was transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center and then flown to Maricopa County. He died there a few days later on Wednesday, Dec. 20.
Both the cause and manner of death are pending and being handled by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The Yuma fire and Police Department confirmed that they responded to Kool Smiles over a medical issue.
“Once we knew that we had lost Zion, his parents Joseph and Veronica honored Zion’s kindness and generosity by donating his organs to other children in need,” the campaign page stated.
Zion’s grandmother told KGUN-TV that her grandson’s funeral services were held on Wednesday, Jan. 3.
“He was just the apple of everybody’s eye and the light in their hearts,” Yarrito said. “He was just so loving that everybody loved him.”
A company spokesman for Kool Smile emailed the following statement to KGUN-TV but declined to comment further.
Yarrito remembers how Zion always had a smile on his face. She also has a message for other parents.
“I want them to know that when they take their kid to doctors or a dentist, they need to be present at all times,” she told KGUN-TV. “Just love your kids with all your heart because you never know what’s going to happen.”
