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Country Star Granger Smith Opens Up About Final Moments With Son Who Drowned

"He lived a good 1,000 days. That’s a huge example for me and how we’re going to look at every single day," Granger Smith said of his late son

Country music star Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, have opened up about the final moments with their son before his tragic drowning earlier this month, TODAY reported. 

In an emotional new video, the couple spoke about trying to find meaning in the death of their son, River Kelly, 3, who died after falling into the pool at their Texas home. 

Smith said he was prompted to reflect by a question from their daughter about how long River had lived. It had been 1,000 days.

“What if you're given a gift of 1,000 days on this earth, and you could live those days barefoot, red hair flying back on your go-kart, on your tractor, full speed ahead?" Smith said while fighting back tears. "If you could do that with your family around you, with no real cares in the world, that's a good thousand days, that’s a good way to live.

"He lived a good 1,000 days. That’s a huge example for me and how we’re going to look at every single day." 

Smith also recalled the day of the tragic accident, saying that he was sharing an idyllic moment in the yard with his family when disaster struck.

He said he was doing gymnastics in the yard with his daughter, London, 7, while River and their son Lincoln, 5, were having a water gun fight.

"I just had this thought, 'Soak up this moment because it’s not gonna last forever,'' Smith said. 

The couple then found themselves "inside our pool gate doing CPR on our son" between only "30 seconds and three minutes" later.

River died two days later at the hospital. The couple announced the news in separate Instagram posts on June 6.

In the new video, they spoke about coming together as a family and included a montage of pictures and photos of their little boy.

"We are stronger than ever,'' Smith said. "We’ve gotten so close. We are going to constantly search for the meaning - not the reason - not going to get caught up in the reason because we will never know, but we will find the good.

"Don’t feel sorry for us. We feel very blessed. We had an incredible boy for three years, and we feel good about that. We are going to live our best life."

News of the boy's death prompted an outpouring of support from the country music community, as well as empathetic words from pro volleyball player Morgan Miller

She and her husband, Olympic skier Bode Miller, lost their 19-month-old daughter, Emmy, to drowning last summer.

Amber Smith also shared an Instagram post on Wednesday talking about the loss of her son.

"Grief is such a strange thing,'' she wrote. "One minute you feel like you have the strength of a lion and you can handle what God has given you, the next you’re sitting by your son’s crib, holding his blanket and crying so hard that no tears or sound comes out, or punching your steering wheel crying and screaming at God, or smiling and laughing at the memories you have of such a special person.

"Sadness, anger, shock, questioning, fear, hope, the joy of remembering, emptiness, worry, heartbreak, trust in our faith - we feel all of this and more."

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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