Two brothers, ages 2 and 8 months, die in UTV accident in Norman

A 2-year-old boy who was on life support following a UTV accident on Sunday died on Tuesday.

“He’s tough – the toughest kid I know. He’s holding on, but we just don’t know if it’s enough,” said RJ’s uncle Dylan Clark.

RJ’s 8-month-old brother also died. Now the family is grappling with how a harmless night of fun turned into such a tragedy. “They walked through what was marked on their map as a safe zone in the river,” Clark said.

“Both juveniles were wearing five-point harnesses, approved child seats and were securely buckled in,” said Trooper Preston Cox of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

Sunday afternoon, 8-month-old Legend, his 2-year-old brother RJ and two of their siblings were out on a UTV with their mother and fiancé at Happyland ATV Park.

“Nobody was drinking, nobody was loud, everyone was just having a good time as a family,” Clark said.

“All indications are that this is a tragic accident,” Cox said.

After initially splashing through several inches of water, the river bottom suddenly sank. “The current swept them away, it only took a few seconds, and then they were all underwater,” Clark said.

Two children were able to free themselves from their seat belts and were rushed to shore – while their mother and family members desperately tried to find the swallowed UTV.

“It was just muddy, dirty water, you couldn’t see anything,” Clark said.

Strangers jumped in. “Every adult was more than willing to lose their life to save these babies,” Clark said.

After 20 minutes, the UTV was pulled out. The children were still in their car seats. “They cut the two babies out and they were both taken to the hospital,” Clark said.

“You can never prepare for something like this,” Clark said.

Legend is dead and RJ is clinging to life. The family is wondering why. “A lot of trouble, a lot of confusion (…) They advertised it as a fun place for the whole family,” Clark said.

The owner of the park expressed her deepest condolences in a Facebook statement and announced the permanent closure of Happyland.

It says, among other things: “Happyland should be a place where families can create happy memories together. Please pray for the family, grief is hard because it never really goes away.”

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