Kailey Morrell had been going to Enchanted Forest Water Safari every summer since she was a little girl, said her mom, Patricia Morrell.
She wanted to take her toddler son, Brantley, with her July 18, but her mom convinced her he was too young.
Kailey, of Mattydale, dropped her 17-month-old son off at her parents’ home the night before she left for Old Forge with her boyfriend and his family. She gave Brantley a big kiss and hug and told him she loved him.
“He smooched her back,’' Patti Morrell said. “She left knowing he loved her, and we all loved her.”
At the park the next day, Kailey was with his family when she had trouble breathing walking up an incline to the water slide. She then rode the slide down and again had trouble breathing, Town of Webb police said.
Kailey had asthma, so she used her inhaler. Then she collapsed to the ground and went into cardiac arrest.
Her family rushed to meet her at a Utica-area hospital. The sheriff gave them the horrific news: Kailey had died after a severe asthma attack.
“We’re all struggling,’' said Jarrett Morrell, Kailey’s younger brother. “How do we go on?”
Patti Morrell is caring for Brantley now, because his father, Cody Benz, is working. Friends also are raising money for Brantley’s future. Her family also wants to set up a golf tournament to raise money for a scholarship in Kailey’s name.
Patti said she sees her daughter every day in Brantley — her warm smile, her infectious laugh and her zest for life. At 17 months, Brantley still looks for his mom, and the family tells him she’s with the angels. He’s too young to understand what happened.
Brantley was the light of Kailey’s life. She loved kids and always wanted her own baby, her mom told Syracuse.com|The Post Standard.
“She was able to have Brantley, and that’s awesome,’' Patti said. “She lived a full life, but she had a lot of living left to do.”
Kailey developed asthma around age 9, but only had sporadic attacks. Her asthma got more uncontrolled after she gave birth, but she typically was able to get it under control, her mother said.
The water park is in Old Forge, miles from a hospital, Patti said. Although EMTs at the scene tried to revive Kailey, it took some time for an ambulance to arrive. Patti said she’ll never know if immediate emergency care would have saved her daughter’s life.
Growing up in the North Syracuse area, Kailey played softball. She had a learning disability known as dyscalculia, which made math extremely hard for her, her family said. She was afraid to get a job where she’d have to deal with money and make change, so she worked with young kids at the Liverpool YMCA instead.
Kailey was shy, and so she didn’t say a lot when she met new people. But she had a bright smile that won people over, her mom and brother said.
Patti said her daughter never gave her a bit of trouble; she didn’t smoke, rarely had a drink and didn’t attend parties. She loved to go watch dirt car racing with her dad, and brought her son for the first time a few weeks ago.
Kailey Morrell, right, and her mom, Patti.
“She wasn’t a girly girl,” Patti said. “She liked to build things and fix cars. She would put together furniture if it had to be assembled, and she could fix the brakes on a car. She even was part of the pit crew at Fulton Speedway one year.”
With the threat of Covid keeping her inside for so long, Kailey was especially looking forward to the State Fair this year. She wanted to take Brantley, her mom said.
Her calling hours drew more than 400 people, some of who remembered Kailey from Cicero-North Syracuse high school. The service was held at Kailey’s grandfather’s gravesite, and they released several doves, one of Kailey’s favorites. Then they had a barbecue.
Her younger brother, Jarrett said he’s still in shock from her loss. He misses going over to hang out in the backyard with Kailey and Brantley, as they dipped their toes into the kiddie pool.
“She was an amazing mom,’' he said.
On the morning Kailey left for Enchanted Forest, Kailey’s father, Scott, was preparing to move to Florida after a work promotion. Patti had decided to stay in Mattydale, to help her daughter and Brantley. The Morrells were packing the U-haul when that chilling phone call came.
The couple left their U-haul open and half-packed, and raced to Utica.
Now, as Patti watches her grandson scamper around the backyard, she thinks of how much that day has altered everyone’s reality.
“When the sun is shining, it’s better because we know she’s laughing, ‘‘ she said. “But when it’s gloomy, it’s really tough.”
Elizabeth Doran covers education, suburban government and development, breaking news and more. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact her anytime at 315-470-3012 or email edoran@syracuse.com