School superintendent's youngest son dies from his injuries after being sucked down storm drain and swept under neighboring streets

The 10-year-old boy who was swept into a storm drain near his house after a tornado, tragically passed away Saturday, according to a Facebook post from his father.

Dr. Jimmy Sullivan, the director of schools for Rutherford County - just outside of Nashville - wrote in a post that his younger son, Asher Sullivan, died at close to 1.20pm Saturday at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.

The 10-year-old will become an organ donor and so remains on life support at this time, according to local reports.

In the devastating social media post, Dr. Sullivan wrote: 'It’s 100% an Asher type thing to do in continuing to be selfless. He will have an honor walk at the hospital in the next few days and be celebrated as he is, a hero!'

On May 8, Asher was swept into a storm drain as neighbors helped clean up debris following a storm that had torn through the area.

Dr. Jimmy Sullivan, the director of schools for Rutherford County - just outside of Nashville - wrote in a post that his younger son, Asher Sullivan (pictured), died at close to 1.20pm Saturday at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. 

'We are broken-hearted, mad, and every other emotion at the same time,' wrote Sullivan.  'Please keep our family in your prayers as we navigate a world without the purest one of us in it.'

He eventually emerged from a drainage ditch with another boy, but was critically injured and placed on life support. An MRI taken last Thursday concluded that the initial brain damage he'd suffered had progressed further.

On Friday, as Asher's father and mother met with neurologists, his vitals crashed, his body lost the ability to control its temperature and his eye response ceased.

His father wrote: 'Our sweet boy did what Asher has always done, he put others first. No longer did Kaycee and I have to make an impossible decision.

'Instead, he made it for us while we were out of the room.'

The doctors conducted a test to determine that Asher had technically died.

'No parent should have to watch this, but we knew for our hearts, we had to. The results showed us what we already knew, that our sweet Asher was already gone,' wrote Sullivan.

'We are broken-hearted, mad, and every other emotion at the same time.'

The family will commemorate the young boy's life with a private ceremony and have asked for privacy as they mourn.

'Please keep our family in your prayers as we navigate a world without the purest one of us in it,' added Sullivan, who also said of his son that he had lived a jam-packed life full of love and adventure.

'He visited all 50 states (something he was so proud of), visited four countries, played every sport imaginable, was the kindest/gentlest soul I’ve ever met, loved EVERYONE, and lived his life on GO at all times.

'Our nicknames for each other were ‘squirrel’ and ‘papa squirrel’ because we always had to go, go, go and could not focus on one thing.'

The horror initially unfolded as the 10-year-old played with other neighborhood kids in the aftermath of a tornado and severe storm that ripped through Tennessee , killing three

The tragedy for the Sullivan family comes as just year's after Asher's older brother, Declan, battled leukemia for four years before beating the disease in 2022 

Ahead of his passing, his father said Asher's 'lungs are (were) severely damaged, and he is (was) not showing much brain activity outside of muscle jerks.'

The horror initially unfolded as the 10-year-old played with other neighborhood kids in the aftermath of a tornado and severe storm that ripped through Tennessee, killing three. 

While neighbors banded together to clear the damage, Asher's father said that 'somehow, (he) got caught in the storm drain and was swept under the neighborhood streets.' 

Asher 'eventually' emerged in a drainage ditch, he said, alongside another boy who also lives on his street, eighth-grader Madden Moltz, who is expected to recover from his injuries.

The tragedy for the Sullivan family comes as just year's after Asher's older brother, Declan, battled leukemia for four years before beating the disease in 2022.