A heartbreaking incident in Texas has left a family mourning the loss of 11-year-old Mateo Lopez, who tragically died after a severe winter storm knocked out power for countless residents and plunged temperatures into the single digits.
Just a day before his untimely passing, Mateo was joyfully playing in the snow, according to his mother, Elena Garcia. After enjoying dinner, he went to bed snuggled under blankets with his 3-year-old stepbrother in their unheated mobile home located in Conroe, approximately 40 miles from Houston. “He seemed perfectly fine,” Elena remarked. “He had dinner, played, and settled down for the night.”
Later that night, Mateo’s stepfather checked on the children and found them still breathing. His aunt, Sofia Reyes, shared that he covered them up and returned to sleep. However, when they tried to wake Mateo the following morning, they discovered he had passed away.
A GoFundMe campaign established by Reyes reveals that the family endured two days without electricity, with temperatures dropping to a chilling 12 degrees Fahrenheit on February 16. Tragically, Mateo became the youngest reported victim in the wake of the storm, which has claimed at least 47 lives across the state, a number that may rise as conditions persist.
Authorities reported that many of the fatalities resulted from hypothermia and other causes, including carbon monoxide poisoning. The state’s water systems have also been heavily impacted, leaving nearly half of Texas’s population—approximately 14.6 million residents—under a boil-water advisory due to frozen pipes.
“I can’t believe this has happened. I’m devastated,” Sofia expressed. “We did everything we could, including CPR, until the fire department arrived, but it was already too late.”
Currently, the family is raising funds to repatriate Mateo’s body to Honduras, where he was born and had hoped to reunite with his grandparents. They have exceeded their initial $5,000 goal, raising over $35,000 in support.
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