A father has passed away after falling from his roof while decorating his home for Christmas, leaving behind two young daughters.
Joe Cocco, 31, fell from the roof of his Wisconsin home, United States in late November and was rushed to the emergency room where it was determined that he broke his neck.
The young father went through multiple surgeries and was expected to be paralyzed from the neck down, however, his condition took a turn for the worse while he was in the hospital.
On December 6, a family member shared that Cocco had passed away on a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for his wife and two girls.
“Our hearts are stricken by the immensity of grief as we have lost an incredible husband, father, brother, son, and friend,” the update says.
It added;
Our families have gained another guardian angel to watch over us during this unimaginable time.
Cocco’s mother-in-law, Debbie Stewart, told WMBF News that Cocco was planning to surprise his daughters when he fell from the roof.
“Hailey [his wife] was inside decorating and he was outside getting the lights up so he could surprise the girls,” Stewart said.
The family is grieving as they prepare to go through their first holiday season without Cocco, the GoFundMe page says.
Cocco leaves behind his wife Hailey, 8-year-old daughter Gentry, and a baby daughter Blair, who is just 8 weeks old.
Holiday decorating-related incidents and injuries are fairly common across the US this time of year.
US Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that in 2019, 14,800 people were treated for decorating-related injuries.
There’s an average of 160 injuries per day during the holiday season.
