One-year-old Ozzy Embrich of Red Bud passed away in his sleep last Tuesday, after which the community expressed sympathy to the family.

Per the Randolph County Coroner’s Office, his death appears to be of natural causes, though the final cause of death will be determined following results of an autopsy and tests over the next several weeks.

Funeral services took place Saturday at Quernheim Funeral Home in Waterloo. A full obituary can be found on page 3A.

Following Ozzy’s passing, a fundraiser was started on GoFundMe by his aunt Rachel Budko, with a goal of $12,000 to help the family pay for the funeral, medical bills and counseling. The fundraiser has currently received nearly $18,000 in donations.

On the fundraiser’s page, Budko described the circumstances of Ozzy’s passing as well as the impact the family has experienced with their loss.

“Ozzy would have been 2 in February,” Budko said. “He was a rambunctious little man with a contagious laughter like no other. Ozzy had the power to light up a room and bring us together. He was truly ‘all boy,’ yet, he gave the best hugs. His older sisters Roxi, Ariel and Stella were the best big sisters anyone could have asked for. There is a void in our hearts, a laughter that has been silenced. The heavens have gained an angel.”

Ozzy’s father Corey Embrich recounted the events preceding his young son’s passing.

“We went to Red Bud (Regional Hospital) Monday morning,” Embrich told the Republic-Times. “He had an almost 104-degree fever and he was passing out, so I kinda freaked out and me and my wife rushed him to the hospital. They swabbed him for RSV, for COVID and for the flu, and they said everything came back negative, so they were just gonna send us home and told us just to keep giving him Motrin and Tylenol, just alternating.”

Embrich added that, after mentioning that one of Ozzy’s older sisters had been sick with the flu quite recently, the doctor also prescribed Tamiflu.

Ozzy then appeared to be normal for the remainder of the evening.

“We just kinda kept alternating the medicine every about four hours or so just to keep his fever down,” Embrich said. “And he was playing, riding his bike that night, and the next morning I was already at work and my wife calls me and it was just, I rushed home as fast as I could.”

When asked about his feelings concerning the lack of a diagnosis, Embrich described his mixed emotions.

“There’s a huge frustration, but who am I gonna blame?” Embrich said. “If they say the swabs came back negative, what am I to say? The only thing I can sit here and do is wait for an autopsy report to maybe give us some clarity.”

Embrich also described his appreciation was at the outpouring of financial assistance thanks to the GoFundMe.

“I mean, it’s just, it’s touching, y’know, how many people, how the community just kinda comes together,” Embrich said. “I’ve never been a person to ask for handouts. If there’s an issue, I deal with it. I almost feel guilty for that, but it gives me time to be able to take off work and be there for my wife and my other three daughters. It’s just a really touching thing.”

Embrich offered advice for parents and families in this community to treasure the time that they have with their children.

“Like I tell everyone, hug your babies tight,” Embrich said. “Spend as much time with your kids. That time is precious. I mean, my birthday was Saturday, and that was the day I had to lay my son into the ground, so it’s really just, it’s a tragic thing, and like I said, I tell everyone just hold your babies tight, you know? Spend as much time as you possibly can with them, because you never know.”

Those wishing to donate to the Ozzy Embrich Medical-Memorial Fund can do so at gofund.me/1953f2b1.