ATLANTA -- The parents of a Georgia boy who was struck by a falling tree branch outside his day care five years ago say he has died. Bill and Stacy Halstead, the father and mother of 7-year-old Tripp Halstead, said on Facebook that their son died Thursday. 
 
 Stacy Halstead said in the post that Tripp died at a hospital after fighting an infection. 
 
 Tripp was 2 years old when the branch fell and hit him while he was at the playground of his day care on Oct. 29, 2012, during Superstorm Sandy. He suffered brain damage, remained in a coma for weeks, and was brought home from the hospital nearly 10 months after the accident. 
 
 Stacy Halstead said in the post that she discovered Tripp's breathing was labored when she went to wake him for school Thursday morning. 
 
 "He was our whole world," she said. 
 
 There are no words to express how Bill and I are feeling at this moment. We are beyond devastated and honestly I believe... Posted by Tripp Halstead Updates on Thursday, March 15, 2018 
 
 Over the years, the Atlanta community stepped up to help the family, including holding car-wash fundraisers, CBS affiliate WGCL-TV reports. 
 
 Volunteers even helped transform the Halsteads' home to make it more accessible for Tripp, who underwent at least 16 surgeries. 
 
 His family chronicled his life online with more than a million people following their Facebook page. 
 
 "You have been the most loyal and outstanding followers we could have ever asked for and We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the past 5 1/2 years," Stacy Halstead said in Facebook post. "You let us into your lives and You were there when we needed you most." 

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– A young Georgia boy whose struggles following a freak accident five years ago were followed by hundreds of thousands of people online died Thursday, CBS News reports. Tripp Halstead was just 2 when he was hit by a falling tree branch while playing outside his day care during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the branch injured both sides of Tripp's brain. He suffered brain damage, was in a coma for weeks, and was only allowed to leave the hospital after nearly 10 months. Tripp has had at least 16 surgeries since the accident. Tripp's mother, Stacy Halstead, says she found her now-7-year-old son struggling to breathe when she went to wake him up for school Thursday. Halstead announced Tripp's death following an infection in a Facebook post that evening. "There are no words to express how Bill and I are feeling at this moment. We are beyond devastated," she writes. "This winter was brutal for him. I’m just so thankful he had the best summer ever. Jet skis, Disney World, the list is endless and that’s when we got those amazing huge smiles." Halstead thanked the over 1 million people following Tripp's post-accident life on Facebook. "You let us into your lives and you were there when we needed you most," she writes.