A young second grader has died and the local community is in mourning after a tragic horse-riding accident on Sunday afternoon.

The boy, Max Henderson, died after undergoing emergency surgery at a Wichita hospital following the accident at his family’s home in the rural town of Winfield, Kansas.

Henderson was a second-grade student at Country View Elementary and the school released a statement after the news of his passing to explain that they will have professionals available to help with needs of students, parents, and staff after the sudden loss.

Max Henderson’s parents also released a statement, according to KAKE. In it, they explained what happened during the accident and how they want their beloved son to be remembered.

“We know a lot of people loved our boy, so we want to let you know how God chose to bring him home. We were at home roping the calf sled. His pony flipped over on him. He got up a ran away about 20 feet and went down. We got to him and he said he couldn’t breathe. We rushed him WNMH where they stabilized him and the transported him to Wesley. They saw a slight bleed and some minor internal injuries. They soon realized his Vena Cava was severed. A team of doctors worked their tails off, but it wasn’t meant to be. He came out of surgery but left this earth soon after.

We tell this story because we know so many of you are grieving, and on your knees praying alongside of us.
We tell it because this is the easiest and fastest way to get it out there.
We tell it because we don’t want his memory to be everyone trying to know what happened.

The way God chose to call him home is not his legacy. Please remember him for the way he lived, not died.

He hated when people were sad, especially me. He could spot something bothering me within seconds. He didn’t like unrest. He loved happy times. He loved fun. He loved his friends and a million other things. If we let this break us, he will never let us live it down. Murphy was born into the same fun-loving, happy family as Max. We will not take that from him. This was from Shane and missie

Max had the most amazing 7 years possible. He said many times that he wanted to be 7 forever. I think deep down he knew he wasn’t here for a long time. We are honored to have been his parents and grateful for every second.

We will honor his life by living out the rest of our earthly days with happiness and fun. We will miss him. Oh my, we will miss him. We will have sad days, but we will not live sad lives. Please raise us up in prayer to help us to live as Max would wish. Without fear & full of happy times and fun. I would say fly high, but he’s already there.”
~From Shane and Missi Henderson

Our thoughts and prayers are with this family during this incredibly difficult time and we pray too, for the tight-knit rural community who has lost one of its beloved members.