A North Carolina family is grieving after the unexpected death of their little boy. Brooks Ambrose was outside at night with his family. The toddler somehow got away from them, and at that moment, he was hit by a tractor-trailer. Sadly, there was no way he was going to survive that kind of accident. It seems that’s all it was, just an unfortunate accident. Now, the family is left to make sense of a senseless tragedy. Based on what they’re sharing on social media, however, they’re leaning on each other and their faith to get them through this incredibly hard moment. It’s just heartbreaking.
The incident is still being investigated.
According to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, the tractor-trailer hit the boy, who was identified as Brooks Ambrose, around 8:10 p.m. April 14, 2026, WTVD reported. State troopers said a Freightliner was traveling east in the left lane of NC 42 when it hit the 1-year-old. The truck driver pulled over and waited for officers from the Highway Patrol to arrive. The toddler was declared dead at the scene.
The family called the boy’s death a freak accident, WNCN reported. They told the news outlet everyone was playing together outside when Brooks got too close to the highway.
“The driver of the Freightliner is showing to have no contributing circumstances in this collision,” state troopers shared, per WNCN. “There are no charges at this time.”
The family started a fundraiser for his funeral.
“On April 14th, Brooks McCoy Ambrose went to be in the arms of Jesus,” the GoFundMe description reads. “We know that happy, spunky, full of energy boy is smiling that beautiful smile as big as he can in his heavenly home.”
According to the description, all money raised will go to Brooks’ celebration of life. “We believe in the power of prayer and cling to the promise that one day we will all be reunited with our Brooks Boy, Boosey, our Brooks McCoy,” it shared while specifically asking for prayers for the boy’s parents and siblings.
Brooks’ mom is publicly sharing her grief at losing her baby.
On April 15, Kelsey Ambrose, the boy’s mother, shared a video of her with her little boy, playing and laughing.
“Years from now…this is the version of life I’ll miss the most,” read text on the video, which was originally shared in March.
Ambrose captioned the post, “My baby boy you’ll always be. I can’t fathom a life without you in it. You were loved from your first breath to your very last. You spent your final moments on earth doing what you love with your favorite person, your daddy. You are safe in the arms of my God.
“My goal as a Mama is that all of my children make it to Heaven. You are the first to make it, Brooks. I will be there with you soon! I promise 💔,” the post continued.
In another post on April 17, she wrote “I wish I could give every meal, every grocery, and every single dollar and cent back to have that baby boy back in my arms. But I do want I say thank you.”
His father also posted about the loss.
“If anybody has questions or regrets in something like this, it’s me,” Keith Ambrose wrote in a Facebook post. “Brooks chose me. I was his person. When he was hurt, he wanted daddy. When he was sad, he wanted me. When he needed extra snuggles, he came to me.
“And in the moment he needed me the most… I wasn’t there. That’s something I’ll carry for the rest of my life,” he shared.
“But I do know this….his last hour here was full of life. We were together. We were tearing stuff up and he loved every second of it,” the grieving father’s post continued. “Covered in potting soil, sticking his head under the water while we were watering plants… just being wild and happy. He spent his last minutes here in my arms, loving me. I’ll hold onto that forever, even with this pain. I’ll never get over this.”
