Jonny’s Story

Jonathan Michael Hackett, also known as “Jonny,” was born on October 7th, 2017. He was our second child, with an older brother, Bobby, just 14 months ahead of him. Jonny entered the world quickly and boldly, arriving at 36 weeks but healthy and perfect. From the start, it was clear Jonny was someone special. He lived life like he’d already experienced it, riding a bike without training wheels by the age of 2. We often marveled at how advanced he was, knowing that he had a unique drive to master everything he tried.

Jonny was determined, always eager to learn and improve. Yet, despite his strong-willed nature, he also had a tender side. He had a temper at times, but his heart was even bigger. He was the best hugger; whenever you asked for one, he would sprint over as fast as his little legs could carry him, always eager to show love.

Jonny was deeply attached to his mom, while his dad was his hero. His closest companion, though, was his big brother Bobby. The two were inseparable. They played together, fought together, and loved each other fiercely. Known as the Hackett boys, they shared a bond that was unbreakable, a true testament to the special connection they had.

July 22nd we woke up like any other day. Jonny spent the day with mom; riding Bobby’s new quad around the yard. Daddy came home and took him for a long quad ride. We ate dinner and left for family night at Camp Clark. They were so excited for family night.

At 715 pm the kids wanted to go swimming. The weather wasn’t great but all the other kids were doing it. I changed Jonny into his bathing suit and Daddy strapped him with a life jacket. Jonny ran in the water and began to swim out to his friends.  Within seconds daddy noticed something was off. Jonny looked at him with a face of fear and uncertainty. He ran in and grabbed him within seconds. Everything from that point on didn’t make sense. Jonny did not drowned, but he wasn’t waking up…..Jonny was airlifted to Boston Children’s.

After stabilizing him they conducted scans which confirmed a small bleed in the back of his brain stem consistent with an aneurysm. Our healthy 3.5 year old wouldn’t wake up. We were left speechless and completely devastated at how this can happen with NO symptoms or warnings.

Jonny never complained of head aches, never had any signs that something was wrong. How would we know?

For the next two days we held onto our boy letting family and friends say goodbye. Jonny took his last breath at 12:27 am on July 24th with me and daddy right next to him. We smothered his little body with kisses telling him how sorry we were that we couldn’t save him. It was the worst day of our life. We had to leave the hospital without our child and explain to his brother he would not be coming home. 

Jonny was so loved and is so missed. Our mission now is to help other families in the icu. The only way we can fathom continuing on is to do something in our sons name so people continue to say his name. We have started a non profit in his name and will spread love to families on the worst days of their life.