16-year-old Blake Ward was swimming at sea when he encountered serious problems

When we lose someone close to us, a little part us tends to die with them. And sometimes it’s really hard to carry on… but, somehow, we do, and when the dark days come, you’ve gotta have some faith to get you through.

16-year-old Blake Ward was swimming at sea when he encountered serious problems. When he was pulled from the waters by emergency responders, he had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital. But he had suffered severe brain damage and had to be hooked up to life support.

In a short time, his parents made that heart-breaking decision to turn off the life support. As family gathered around him to say their goodbyes, Blake’s girlfriend, Stephanie, climbed into his bed to give him one last hug.

She then posted a photo of that moment with this message: Today has been the hardest day for me, and it will be a day I will never be able to forget. As some of you may know, Blake was involved in a terrible accident on Tuesday. I have been by his side through it all and I haven’t left him….Blake was a loving a caring person and would do anything for anyone.

We were told yesterday that Blake would never recover and his brain was too damaged, and we had to make the hard decision of turning his machine off and let him go. Blake was someone special to me and we had something special and we will always have that.

Just know Blake wasn’t in any pain and he passed away with his family around him, and he will forever be missed and he will always have a special place in my heart, and I will never forget you Blake. Fly high, my baby boy, and I’m gonna make you proud. Love you and I always will.