Child’s death still haunts East Bank mother

After 1 year, she says nothing has helped her deal with the grief

It has been a little more than a year since the death of her 4-year-old daughter, but Melissa Champagne still feels like the tragic event occurred yesterday.

“It has been very difficult this whole year,” Champagne said. “I have tried everything, but nothing has helped. My friends and family have tried to help me, but they just don’t understand.

“I still feel the same way I did when it happened.”

On Feb. 7, 2008, Champagne’s daughter, Destiny, was found by family members in her grandparents’ LaPlace home hanging from a bedpost of their bed with a ribbon around her neck. When Destiny was discovered, family members immediately cut her down and attempted to revive her, but it was too late.

Destiny’s grandfather, Terry Champagne, had only left the child alone for no more than five minutes while he checked on the family dog. During that time, Destiny apparently hoisted herself onto the nearly 7-foot-tall bedpost by climbing a headboard and using the bed’s canopy.

Little Destiny died just two weeks before her fifth birthday.

Last Friday, family members and friends celebrated what would have been Destiny’s sixth birthday by gathering at Highway 51 Park and releasing pink balloons into the air.

Pink was Destiny’s favorite color.

Champagne said that between 70 to 100 people showed up for Destiny’s memorial, and it meant a lot to her that they came.

“We didn’t tell anyone besides family and friends, so we had a lot of people show up,” she said. “It was our way of remembering her. It meant a lot to me and I know it meant a lot to Destiny too.”

But the memorial isn’t the only way Destiny is remembered by her mother. Champagne lives with the memories every single day.

“Destiny was the best child I could have ever asked for,” Champagne said. “I remember my dad telling me that one day he picked her up for school and Destiny had heard a little girl crying,” Champagne said. “She walked away from my dad and went up to the little girl and said ‘don’t cry, it will be OK.’”

Then she hugged her.

“That is the kind of child she was,” Champagne said. “She never liked to see anyone in pain.”

Destiny was also into dancing and karate and she had just gotten her third belt in the latter sport.

“She was so happy that she passed the test,” Champagne said. “I was so proud of her when she got that belt.”

Destiny spent a lot of time traveling with her family. She visited Disney World in 2005 and went to the beach in 2007.

“We found so many seashells,” Champagne said. “She didn’t want to get out of the water.”

Two weeks before she died, Destiny traveled to Tennessee, where she went snow skiing and horseback riding. The horseback riding was her favorite because she took part in a few horse shows herself.

“She loved animals, no matter what kind they were,” Champagne said.

And little Destiny was a firm believer in God.

“She would always talk about God,” Champagne said. “She believed in him and she would say ‘that is my brother.’”

Champagne said that the memorial is a way to keep her daughter’s birthday alive, and is something that family and friends will continue to do every year. But for Champagne, it won’t get any easier.

“I will miss her so much,” she said. “I will never hear her say ‘mommy’ again.”

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply