‘Goodbye, my Sadie’: Dad says 3-year-old burned in fire has died

TOWNVILLE, S.C. (WHNS/Gray News) - A 3-year-old South Carolina girl who was flown to a burn center following a Saturday morning house fire has died, according to her father.

The child’s father, Zack DeRose, said 3-year-old Sadie was the youngest of six children. She would have turned 4 in March, WHNS reports.

Sadie was taken to Prisma Oconee and then airlifted to a burn center in Georgia. DeRose said in a Monday afternoon Facebook post that “there was no longer any blood flow to her brain.”

The family spent the afternoon saying goodbye to Sadie, including singing her favorite song, “Baby Shark,” according to DeRose.

The father said doctors will stop the 3-year-old’s heart Tuesday, and her organs will be donated.

“It’s a terrible thing for a father to lose a child. I saw this in my grandfather before me — my uncle died when I was about Sadie’s age. But I’m determined to be strong for my other four children, who all still need me,” DeRose wrote.

He said he hopes Feb. 19 can be Sadie’s Day, a day when “everyone takes the time to love their near and dear ones.”

“Goodbye, my Sadie. I promise, when my time in this world is done, I promise I will come find you,” DeRose wrote.

Townville Volunteer Fire Department said crews were dispatched to a home in Oconee County around 1:29 a.m. Saturday. The crew of four found a heavy fire venting from the front of the home.

Officials said searches were conducted in several parts of the home, and a young child was found by a three-man search crew.

The child was removed through a side window and then handed off to deputies who continued the rescue effort.

DeRose’s two sons were able to help get two of the sisters out, but Sadie was unable to be reached.

The fire is under investigation by multiple agencies.

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