“Kid Dying In Santa’s Arms” Story May Have Been Completely Made Up

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The Knoxville News Sentinel first reported the tear-jerking story that quickly went viral: a man who played Santa Claus granted the final wish of a terminally ill boy who later died in his arms. But the News Sentinel now says they cannot confirm the story was accurate, and although they have attempted to verify key details of the man’s account, they have been unable to do so…

But recently, the paper issued a troubling update:

The update read, “The News Sentinel cannot establish that Schmitt-Matzen’s account is inaccurate, but more importantly, ongoing reporting cannot establish that it is accurate.” It continued, “Therefore, because the story does not meet the newspaper’s standards of verification, we are no longer standing by the veracity of Schmitt-Matzen’s account.”

CNN also contacted all the major hospitals in the Knoxville area that treat children, and found no hospital that could verify the story. And although he did not respond to CNN’s request for comment, Schmitt-Matzen did tell the Washington Post he was standing by his original story.

Now, if the Santa made the whole thing up, that’s really, really horrible. But, one news station has said they did confirm the details of the account but are keeping it quiet to respect the privacy of the parents:

WBIR 10News has independently verified several critical details of this story, but has agreed not to publish those for the sake of privacy. Schmitt-Matzen maintains his desire to protect all names involved.

In addition, Schmitt-Matzen’s wife, Sharon, of 38 years spoke with 10News on Wednesday night and also helped fill in details of her husband’s story and his response to what happened that day in what she said was mid-October. That differs from Schmitt-Matzen’s original account of the timeline, in which he said the death happened “about six weeks ago.” Schmitt-Matzen told 10News he had the time wrong and that his wife remembers those things better than he does.

“I know how he reacted that next morning, and this is something that weighed so heavy on him,” Sharon Schmitt-Matzen said of her husband’s experience. “I just know that he just needed time by himself to accept what happened because he obviously wasn’t prepared for a child to die in his arms.”

ORIGINAL STORY:

This is so heartbreaking!!

This year, veteran Santa Claus portrayer Eric Schmitt-Matzen was the one with tears in his eyes as he helped one special little boy in his final moments of life.

Schmitt-Matzen, who portrays the jolly man in the red suit every year for dozens of events, recently answered the call to visit a terminally ill child in the hospital just before his death, he told the Knoxville News Sentinel.

“ said there was a very sick 5-year-old boy who wanted to see Santa Claus,” the 60-year-old told the Sentinel about the request to visit the boy at a nearby hospital. “I told her, ‘Okay, just let me change into my outfit.’ She said, ‘There isn’t time for that. Your Santa suspenders are good enough. Come right now.’ ”

Upon arrival just 15 minutes later, the little boy’s mother gave Schmitt-Matzen a gift to give to her son. “I sized up the situation and told everyone, ‘If you think you’re going to lose it, please leave the room. If I see you crying, I’ll break down and can’t do my job,’ ” he explained to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Schmitt-Matzen entered the hospital’s intensive care unit, and sat down on the boy’s bed, asking, ” ‘Say, what’s this I hear about you’re gonna miss Christmas? There’s no way you can miss Christmas! Why, you’re my Number One elf!’ ”

“I gave him the present,” Schmitt-Matzen said. “He was so weak he could barely open the wrapping paper. When he saw what was inside, he flashed a big smile and laid his head back down.”

Then, the child asked, ” ‘They say I’m gonna die. How can I tell when I get to where I’m going?’ ”

In response, Schmitt-Matzen told the child, ” ‘When you get there, you tell ’em you’re Santa’s Number One elf, and I know they’ll let you in.’ ”

The two shared a hug, and the little boy asked, ” ‘Santa, can you help me?’ ”

“I wrapped my arms around him. Before I could say anything, he died right there. I let him stay, just kept hugging and holding on to him,” Schmitt-Matzen explained. “Everyone outside the room realized what happened. His mother ran in. She was screaming, ‘No, no, not yet!’ I handed her son back and left as fast as I could.”