The 3-year-old daughter of BYU running backs coach and former NFL player Reno Mahe died Tuesday evening, ending a week-long fight in the hospital after an accident at the family's home caused her to go into severe respiratory distress.
Elsie Mahe, one of Mahe's seven children with wife and former BYU volleyball star Sunny Tonga Mahe, was rushed to the hospital Nov. 22 after an incident involving the cord of a window blind cut off Elsie's air supply for an unknown amount of time.
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"Our Elsie girl has officially been released to heaven — at least from a worldly, paperwork standpoint," Sunny Mahe wrote on Facebook Tuesday night. "We feel peace and we are again so grateful for the privilege of being Elsie's parents. She continues to sprinkle love and hope across the world."
The family provided updates on a GoFundMe website page that Elsie was improving Sunday and was taking breaths without a ventilator. But on Monday, she suffered a seizure and could no longer breathe without assistance.
An MRI exam Friday at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City showed extensive brain damage. On Sunday morning, the family met with the hospital's organ donation team.
"We will be working closely with the donation team for the next couple of days, so we have a few days to postpone making funeral plans," Sunny Mahe wrote on Facebook. "As we considered the experience of her miraculous breathing and decline, we cannot help but wonder if someone else's horrible accident has not happened yet and Elsie was holding on to wait for them."