Mom Loses Son, 9, Weeks After Husband: 'Her World Is Just Gone'

JAMESPORT, NY — Brandon Johnson, 9, who lived in Jamesport with his parents, Lauren and Joshua, and little brother, Elijah, 4, loved superheroes, the beach, Star Wars, video games, Legos, drawing, Cub Scouts, and playing baseball.

Like so many young families, the Johnsons made memories as they headed off on their first trip to Disney World and spent time with family and friends.

Until June, when Brandon began to feel sick, said Kelly Morgan, Lauren and Joshua's niece and Brandon's cousin. What followed was a kaleidoscope of uncertainty as, over the next months, Brandon grew sicker and sicker, facing a heart transplant and leg amputation.

And then the unthinkable: Brandon lost his brave fight the day after Halloween.

In a twist of anguish, his father, Joshua, died suddenly in September, and now Lauren, a broken-hearted and grieving mother and wife, is left alone to raise her 4-year-old son Elijah.

To help, Morgan created a GoFundMe, "Memorial for Brandon Johnson."

Describing her young cousin's journey, Morgan said in June the little boy began breathing heavily with a high fever. When he was brought to the hospital, his oxygen levels were very, very low, she said.

"A virus attacked his heart," Morgan said. Although it was not COVID-19, the virus, never identified, attacked Brandon so ferociously he was forced to undergo the heart transplant and leg amputation.

After Joshua, Brandon's dad, died suddenly in September, Brandon, who had been at NewYork Presbyterian-Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in New York City for months, also started to fail, Morgan said.

Fluid was building up in his lungs; Brandon was on a ventilator, Morgan said. "It was complication after complication," she said. "He was sedated the whole time. He never came back home."

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, only his parents were allowed to visit Brandon; not even his little brother could see him.

On the day after Halloween, which is also his mother Lauren's birthday, Brandon died. Of Lauren, Morgan said: "Her world is just gone."

The whole family is shattered, Morgan said. "There are really no words. It is devastating, heartbreaking — every word similar to that, that's how we feel."

Her little cousin, she said, loved playing Fortnite, and having sleepovers with his friends. "He was just the sweetest kid," she said. "He was always caring for others. He was so close to his mom, always bringing things home for her. He was such a kind soul."

Brandon, who would have been 10 in January, wanted to be a painter when he grew up. Before he got sick and Joshua died, Lauren had been planning a trip back to Disney World for their family to celebrate the double-digits birthday, Morgan said.

Morgan said Brandon was more like a little brother than a cousin. But from the day he entered the hospital, she never heard his voice again. "He had tubes down his throat the whole time," she said.

So many other children in the hospital recovered, got to go home and live their dreams. But for Brandon, "every time they thought he was getting better, something else would happen," Morgan said. "Everyone told Lauren, 'Hold on to your hope.' But it was too much for him. For about five months, he fought every day. But it was just too much for his little body."

His mother, cloaked in grief, is trying to stay strong for her younger son, Morgan said. "Elijah said, 'Daddy is taking care of Brandon now — and Mommy has me.'"

But still, Elijah doesn't understand, too young to comprehend the loss. "He said, 'I want to go visit Brandon in heaven. I miss him,'" Morgan said.

Remembering the little boy with the bright smile, Morgan said when he was very young, he told her he wanted to marry her. She laughed and explained they were cousins. "He said, 'It's okay,'" she said.

Brandon was also fiercely devoted to Lauren, Morgan said: "He always said she was the best mom in the world."

Of her Uncle Joshua, who died in September, Morgan said: "He was just so caring. He always put other people first. Even when his son was so sick in the hospital, he would go out to help the homeless."

Joshua's hugs, she said, were legendary. "They were just the biggest bear hugs, the best hugs you will ever have in your life."

Her uncle was a chef who managed the kitchen at Little Lucharitos in Aquebogue for owner Marc LaMaina. Lauren worked with LaMaina's wife Jennifer at her preschool; the couple's kids played together and had sleepovers.

"We will miss the sleepovers and the giggles coming from the boys' room," LaMaina said on Facebook. "The dips in the pool. And the hilarious under-the-breath comments you would make when I would try to get you guys to behave. I could always see the kind of friend you would be to my boys. You were just the sweetest little guy and I imagine your dad waiting for you. With his giant smile. You two together. No pain. Just love. I hope that’s how this all works."

LaMaina added, to Brandon: "You were put through hell and you fought so hard. Brandon, your crew will never replace you and they miss you terribly."

Morgan said her Uncle Joshua had strong faith even in the dark days of his son's illness. "He used to say only an act of God could help Brandon."

Now, with both father and son gone, Morgan said: "I have no doubt in my mind that Joshua was there, waiting with open arms to give Brandon a hug."

Services for Brandon Johnson will take place at the Bryant Funeral Home, located at 411 Old Town Road in East Setauket, on Sunday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., with a prayer service at 4 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Ronald McDonald House Charities or The American Heart Association in Brandon's memory.

"We will always remember your handsome smile and sweet cuddles. We love you and miss you so much, Brandon," his obituary read.

To donate to the GoFundMe, click here.