It's a parent's absolute worst nightmare.
But it became a reality for Evelyn Briggs, who entered her Lancaster, Calif. backyard over the weekend to find her 7-year-old son dead, hanging from a tree, as CBS reports in the video below.
Briggs explained that she was in the house, and her son, Aaris Conway, went into the backyard to play. Twenty minutes later, the yard fell silent, and she and her other son went outside to check on Aaris. That's when they saw his body, hanging from a tree.
“I was screaming. But I realized I have to go grab my baby and so we got him untangled. He fell and I shook him. I did chest compression, CPR,” Briggs said.
“Words cannot explain the way I feel after losing a 7-year-old child. He was so full of life. He had so much more to do and accomplish," she continued.
Briggs told CBS that her son loved climbing trees, karate, sports, gospel music, church and skateboarding. She's not sure exactly what happened but believes that the belt was attached to him and got caught on the tree when he jumped down.
Briggs' advice to other parents is to keep a close eye on your children in order to avoid such a horrific tragedy.
“Just be careful,” she said. “Things happen so sudden.”
A similar horrific accident occurred earlier this year in Westchester, Calif., where a 4-year-old girl was found hanging in a closet. Similarly, the child was playing in the house, and her family began to look for her as soon as they stopped hearing her playing.