Jayden Morrison family still healing a year later: ‘There’s nothing like losing a child’

Carolyn Sumpter doesn’t sleep well.

A year after her grandson Jayden Morrison drowned while on vacation in Little River with his family, Sumpter spends most of her time with Jayden’s siblings in New York. Occasionally she visits her Little River home, but no matter what, Jayden is always on her mind.

“Every day it’s been a struggle for us,” Sumpter said in her Little River home Wednesday.

Jayden, an autistic 4-year-old boy, was visiting his grandmother’s home in the Hidden Lakes subdivision with his mother and two siblings — Jordan and Kelsey — when he disappeared on Christmas Eve 2014 at dusk. His body was found two days later, ending a search involving more than 200 volunteers and emergency crews from throughout South Carolina and North Carolina.

An autopsy determined Jayden drowned in a nearby retention pond.

“There’s nothing like losing a child,” Sumpter said.

Sumpter lives in White Plains, N.Y., with her daughter and two grandchildren, but visits her Little River home occasionally. One year after Jayden’s death, the pain lives on.

The holidays are an especially difficult time for Sumpter and family, and the family’s first Christmas without the usual “noise-maker” was a struggle. Sumpter didn’t want to put up a tree or celebrate in any way, but Kelsey – Sumpter’s granddaughter – gave them a reason to keep with tradition.

“Kelsey knows about Christmas, she knows about Santa Claus, and she just wanted to go shopping at Toys-R-Us,” Sumpter said. “So we had to keep going.”

Sumpter – who was in town for a few days before heading back to New York – said she’s slowly healing, but there will always be a hole in her life. She’s thrown herself into caring for her other two grandchildren and works closely with the kids’ schools, all the while keeping in contact with high school and college friends.

She also spends less time near the pond where Jayden was found.

Last summer, just months after the accident, Sumpter walked the short distance to the retention pond every morning and spent the sunrise in contemplation. Now, a year later, she visits a therapist once a week and only walks to the water every once in a while.

Feelings of guilt

The wound is slowly healing, but Sumpter’s feelings of guilt remain.

The holiday period last year was the first time the family had been in Sumpter’s home since August 2014, so there wasn’t food or anything fresh in the house to eat. So, Sumpter’s daughter, Tabatha Morrison, went to the North Myrtle Beach Wal-Mart. Her son Jayden followed his mother to the door and watched her leave.

“I was on a phone call, and when I looked up he was gone,” Sumpter said.

The Hidden Lakes house has a screened-in porch and garage so the children couldn’t wander away, but Sumpter said the front door was accidentally left open after Morrison ran back inside for her cellphone. The door’s digital chime – which alerts Sumpter to when the door is opened – was turned off, and Jayden walked out the front door.

“I guess I feel a little guilty because he went out on my watch,” she said.

Sometimes the guilt and pain of Jayden’s loss is too much to bear.

There’s a railroad near the family’s house in New York, and one day Sumpter just couldn’t handle the loss of her grandson. A train was bustling down the tracks, so Sumpter stopped her car directly in front of the train.

“I didn’t care, I wanted to die,” she said. “I would have taken my life that day.”

People behind Sumpter beeped their car horns until she eventually moved her car, narrowly avoiding the train.

Most days are better now, but Sumpter hopes 2016 will bring even more healing and peace.

“I hope next year, this time, my heart won’t be as heavy as it is this year.”

‘The local community has been great’

Sumpter and Morrison – Jayden’s mother – are in therapy and rarely talk about Jayden in front of his siblings. The children know what clothes and toys belong to their brother, however, and go to great lengths to protect them. Every time Kelsey sees something that belonged to Jayden, she warns everyone in the room to back off.

“She says ‘That’s Jayden’s, don’t touch it,’” Sumpter said.

The Grand Strand community has been supportive of the family as well, especially neighbors who watch over Sumpter’s house when she’s in New York. Many of the volunteers and rescue groups that searched for Jayden last year still send cards or call with well-wishes.

“When it first happened, we didn’t know if we could come back here. But the community has just been so great, we feel comforted here,” Robert Sumpter, Jayden’s uncle.

Emergency workers who aided in the search are also near to Sumpter’s heart.

“Horry County has the finest police and firemen in the world,” she said. “They didn’t give up, they never give up until they found my baby.”

Bringing light to autism

Sumpter has received hundreds of cards and donations, she said, and many of those gifts are from others with autistic children. Most of the notes contain prayers and well-wishes.

“He made a big difference worldwide,” Sumpter said. “People from places I’ve never even heard of send things.”

Hawthorne Country Day School in New York planted a tree in memory of Jayden, and Sumpter blows the memorial a kiss every time she passes. A small memorial stands near the pond where Jayden was found in Little River, and Sumpter has a trio of angels guarding her front lawn in memory of her grandson.

Each cement angel holds a small bird – two of which are painted blue – and a heart-shaped stone sits in the very middle of the tribute.

The stone, which is no bigger than a hand, reads “You left your footprints on our hearts.”

“There’s a hole in our heart. It’s there and it’s always going to be there,” Sumpter said.

This story was originally published December 31, 2015 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Jayden Morrison family still healing a year later: ‘There’s nothing like losing a child’."