The family of a young boy who tragically died after being struck by lightning have donated his organs to save three other children.

Per Blackpool Gazette, nine-year-old Jordan Banks of Blackpool, England, was in the middle of a one-to-one football training session at a local playing field when he was struck early evening on Tuesday, May 11.

Now, Jordan's dad, Matt Banks, has explained how his "selfless" son has become an organ donor posthumously - with the aim of saving the lives of three other children.

Jordan "would do anything for anyone", his father said in a heartfelt Facebook statement posted on his behalf yesterday (May 13).

Banks said in the post: "He had the biggest heart and would do anything for anyone, and when parents say they have the best kid ever, he [genuinely] was the best ever and if I ever could have asked for a perfect child that was my Jordan.

"I couldn’t have been prouder of him always putting other people himself, such a selfless little person."

The father then explains how his young son continues to help people even after his tragic death.

Banks said: "Even now his kindness has meant that three other children may be able to live, as he always told us he wanted to be able to help other people if he could. So was a donor and has donated which we know will be what he wanted.

"Literally words can’t even explain how heartbroken I am. Not only have I lost my little boy I have lost my little best mate. We would sit and talk for hours about his future and he would always ask me what I wanted his children to call me, and we both decided on papi."

"I never took anything for granted and I always made sure we had quality family time and did whatever I could to show him how much he was loved and how special and beautiful he was," Banks added.

The father went on to say that he hopes no one else will ever have to endure the pain he is enduring.

The grieving father continues: "What I ask of anyone with children cherish every moment, even moments that seem too insignificant right now. Picking them up from school, putting them to bed at night, making them a drink have tea time together.

"As you never know when moments like that will be taken away from you. It only feels like yesterday I was making Jordan a brew, putting him to bed, getting kisses, squeezing him and playing with him."

The post continued: "Don’t take any time for granted as you may end up wishing you had more like me! So please, please, if you are busy and they might want to play a game or watch something with you just find time because it’s priceless."

Months before his death, Jordan had run a marathon in honor of his uncle, Reece Begg, who took his own life in 2018.

Per the Blackpool Gazette, Jordan managed to raise more than $3,200 (£2,300) for a local counseling facility, which provides mental health services to 110 locals each week.

The youngster was fatally struck during an unexpected thunderstorm that had reportedly not been forecast by the UK's national weather service, the Met Office. Following the accident, he was taken to hospital where he sadly succumbed to his injuries.

Our thoughts are with Jordan's friends and family at this difficult time.

Featured image credit: John Sirlin / Alamy

A  teenage boy lost his father in a tragic scuba-diving accident just three weeks after his mother passed away amid a battle with cancer.

From the age of eight, David, now 14, was taken by his father Kenneth Lowery on annual scuba trips to Florida.

The father and son never did away with this tradition, even after David, also known as Xander, lost his mother to cancer some weeks ago. Kenneth and Xander's mother had separated, but the two remained close until her passing.

The father and son had chartered a boat and set off for the dark waters off Juno Beach. But when the pair plunged into the sea, it was only Xander who came back up.

"He called his big brother and told him he was standing there and that he thought his daddy had drowned," Xander's grandmother Kelly Bezayiff told WPTV.

"They went out I guess on a boat. They went down. He knew there were problems, and he tried to get his dad back up, and he couldn't get him back up," Bezayiff said.

Kenneth Lowery pushed the young teenager "up towards the top," and Xander swam up as swiftly as he possibly could.

"When he came up, he looked back and his dad wasn't there," Bezayiff said.

According to officials, the Republic IV charter boat, engaged through the Jupiter Dive Center, took Xander and his dad on a tour around 9AM

By 9:50AM, they both went down into the water.

Just minutes later, Xander resurfaced and shouted out for help.

Some 10 minutes later, the Jupiter police and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrived at the scene, searching the waters.

Officials eventually managed to find Lowery's body.

At the time of his passing, Lowery was dive-certified and in the process of becoming a diving instructor.

Bezayiff, Lowery's former mother-in-law, recalled what a wonderful father and person he was.

"He was phenomenal to my daughter as she was dying. He was there for her, even though they weren't together anymore," Bezayiff said.

She continued: "I mean, he was just that type of guy." Bezayiff emphasized that with Lowery's passing, Xander had lost both of his parents over a period of three weeks.

She was in Texas, when she received the phone call about the young boy's father. She made sure to act immediately, stating: "I just started to get to Florida."

Featured image credit: Estate Of Keith Morris / Getty

A father has died while heroically saving a friend's child from drowning after the youngster got into difficulty in the water.

Adem Qorri, 40, from Florida, had taken his kids out to Anclote River Park with his friend Dale Furness, when Furness's six-year-old son Carso got caught in a riptide.

WTVT reports that Qorri, who was originally from Kosovo, had jumped in to save Carson but lost consciousness while in the water.

A boater nearby was able to pull Qorri from the water a short while later and he was taken to a local hospital where he was tragically pronounced dead.

Furness had shared a tribute to Qorri on Facebook, writing: "I will forever remember you! The love that you had for my family and I, will never be forgotten!"

Carson's mother Mallory Hutchinson added to WTVT: "I can't even say how thankful I am."

She revealed that the six-year-old had "got to the ledge where the sandbar dropped off" before her 10-year-old son attempted to help him, but needed rescuing too.

Furness and other boaters were able to get the children to safety but were not able to save Qorri.

Hutchinson added: "My son said that he was calling for help, and he was screaming he was sorry.

"My six-year-old, he saved his life. He wouldn't be here. It would be me in this situation."

She continued: "I can't even put into words my gratitude. I can't even say how thankful I am. There are no words that will ever replace him."

Qorri's wife Blerta described him as "the best dad ever", adding: "I would say he would do it again over and over and over, and he wouldn't think about it. He is a hero now."

A GoFundMe was set up to help the family, with its $50,000 goal being exceeded just three days after it was set up by a cousin.

They wrote: "Hi, my name is Migena and I'm raising a fundraiser for my cousin Blerta Qorri and her kids. This poor family lost their husband/daddy yesterday.

"Adem Qorri passed away a hero and drowned in the ocean while saving a kid. He was out on a boat with his friends and their children and Adem's sons are traumatized by the events that took place.

"My heart hurts so bad for his boys and wife and I'm so sorry for their loss. Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time and if you can help them in any way."

Qorri's family is considering sending his body to be buried in his native country of Kosovo, after the New Port Richey auto shop owner arrived in America as a refugee from the Balkan conflict in the 90s.

Our thoughts remain with Qorri's family and friends in the wake of this tragedy.

Featured image credit: Joerg Huettenhoelscher / Alamy

A mother in Australia has shared her heartbreak after she found her three-year-old son lifeless in her neighbor's swimming pool.

Isaac Powell, aged three, had moved into his new home in Livingston, Western Australia on December 29, and soon after, he went missing.

His mother Zahra searched the neighborhood with other residents offering their support at the time, but 15 minutes later her neighbor's children found Isaac in the neighbor's backyard swimming pool, as reported by the Daily Mail.

Zahra performed CPR on her three-year-old son until paramedics could arrive at the scene where they quickly took Isaac to Perth Children's Hospital.

Tragically, even with the medical staff's best efforts, Isaac did not survive the tragedy after he was kept on life support for five days.

Taking to Facebook, Ummu Bakri, auntie to the three-year-old shared a heartbreaking statement while adding that she is raising money to support her sister.

Bakri said: "On Thursday 29th December my sister moved into her new house as the school in canning vale offered a learning program for her eldest son.

"She was so excited for the future and as it was her birthday, she was trying to get everything organised for a family get together at the new house.

"The police investigation found there was 2 colour bond boundary fence panels missing, visible from the neighbours house and hidden out of site behind the garage and unknown to my sister and husband on their side of the property." (sic)

Bakri went on to state that she is raising awareness for the importance of proper fencing around swimming pools, as she described this tragedy as "preventable" and that "a small child should be safe in the boundaries of his/her home."

A GoFundMe page has been created to aid their family with funeral costs and any other expenses they might encounter as they grieve the loss of their son.

At the time of writing, the page has raised over $30,000 AUD ($20,200 USD) from 470 donations with messages of support also flooding in for the family as they mourn their loss.

Our thoughts are with Isaac's family during this devastating time.

Featured image credit: Bax Walker / Alamy

A father who lost his 14-year-old son after he disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean has revealed the one thing he does that helps him cope with the pain of his loss.

Perry Cohen and his friend, Austin Stephanos, also 14, set out from the Florida coast on July 24, 2015, for what was supposed to be a simple fishing trip.

The pair was last seen departing the Jib Yacht Club and Marina in Jupiter Inlet Colony.

When they failed to return, one of the most extensive search missions in U.S. Coast Guard history was launched - covering nearly 50,000 square nautical miles from Jupiter to the coast of North Carolina.

A week later, their capsized boat was discovered off the coast of Bermuda, but Perry and Austin were never found.

For Phil, the lack of answers made his grief that much harder to bear.

“When things like this happen, your brain has to make some kind of story,” he told PEOPLE. “I didn't know. Did he get hit in the head when the boat flipped over and just drown right there?".

"Did he float until he couldn't anymore? Did he suffer? Did he get eaten by a shark? For a parent to have to even think about their child in any of these scenarios is ridiculous," he said.

Initially, the pain was unbearable: “It absolutely destroyed me. I had no idea what to do. The only people I've lost to this point were my grandparents. Didn't really know them well, so I didn't know grief. Then all of a sudden, I lost the most precious person in the world.”

Two weeks after the teen's disappearance, the father was lying on his couch in tears when his older brother Rich offered a suggestion: “Let’s go in the ocean.” At first, Cohen refused until something changed.

“Immediately in my spirit, I just heard Perry be like, ‘Come on. Don't be like that. Just stop,’” Cohen said. “And then, so we did.”

What followed was the beginning of his healing. “I actually felt better going through that,” he recalled. “This whole grief thing, you can't outrun it," he said, adding that "the monster gets smaller" when you face it.

He shared that moment on his TikTok account, @philthegriefguy, which has since become a page to speak directly about grief and healing, and help others dealing with loss.

In one video, Phil explained that a key part of his grieving process is saying his son's name out loud.

"If someone you love is grieving, say their person's name,” he explained. “Because I can tell you with 100% confidence and conviction you saying their name won't break them. It's you not saying it that's breaking them.”

For the father, that means keeping Perry’s memory alive by talking about him, remembering him, and honoring the little things.

"If something comes up, and I'll mention Perry's name, I do it for me. I don't do it for anybody else," he said. “Sometimes people get awkward, but now the people who know me and love me are cool with it. They'll ask me about it.”

One of the memories that brings both joy and sorrow is of Perry’s time playing baseball - a sport they both loved.

“A couple of years I was coaching the team, and there was a park not too far from where I lived in Florida,” Phil remembered. “Bottom of the ninth inning. We were down by two runs, playing against the rival team. It was one of those games where all the parents are standing on their feet.”

“Perry gets up to the plate… smacks the home run. The whole place erupts,” he said. “His whole team's standing around home plate.”

“Like ESPN, I expect Perry to jump into this pile of high-fives and cheers - but he didn't,” he added, choking up. “He ran past all of them and jumped into my arms, and I remember thinking ... 'Oh, man,’” he added.

A decade on, Cohen says he can still feel that hug. “It's been a long journey. But I believe we’re most powerfully positioned to serve the person we once were. People just want hope," he concluded.

Featured image credit: George Pachantouris / Getty