'Devastated': Parents speak after son's tragic daycare death

“These are memories we want to keep in our hearts forever."

The parents of a toddler who tragically and suddenly died at a daycare centre have opened up about their grief, revealing they now need medication to sleep at night and are struggling to eat after the horrific loss.

Mum Ying Song and father Ning Ma, speaking with 7News after the September 2 tragedy, said one-year-old Riley was “full of smiles”.

“Today, he would have been 13 months old,” Ms Song said.

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“Our entire family is devastated.”

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Riley Ma died on September 2, 2024. The little boy loved to play hide-and-seek, his father has said. Picture: Supplied

"Our lives have been turned upside down"

She said she needed medication at night to sleep and had struggled to break the news to Riley’s grandmother, who is battling cancer.

“Our lives have been turned upside down and, after the funeral, we will need the help of a psychologist,” she said.

Riley died in an apparent medical episode at the Wakerley childcare centre in Brisbane on September 2.

Emergency services arrived on scene to find the child unresponsive and were unable to revive him.

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The cause and circumstances of his death are still being investigated.

A GoFundMe has been established to help the family navigate the traumatic event, with more than $22,000 raised from an initial $15,000 target.

“We are heartbroken by the sudden loss of one-years-old baby Riley Ma … his mother is struggling to cope with the devastating loss of her only son while preparing to tell her own mother, who is battling stage IV cancer,” family friend Yang Zhao said.

“Riley’s parents, our dear friends, are devastated as they navigate this unimaginable pain.”

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A GoFundMe has been set up to support the parents as they navigate the horrific loss of Riley. Picture: Supplied

"We thought we might take him to the beach"

In heartbreaking words, the parents detail their sense of what had been lost to them and to Riley.

“I’d heard that all little boys love to dig in the sand at the beach, so we bought him a whole set of sand toys early on thinking that, once he could walk, we might take him to the beach,” Ms Song said.

“Sadly, that opportunity will never come.”

Mr Ma said the little boy loved to play hide-and-seek.

“These are memories we want to keep in our hearts forever,” he said.

Originally published as 'Devastated': Parents speak after son's tragic daycare death