Conor Robert Bowen
Conor was born on May 13, 2015. He was loved by everyone who met him. He was always smiling and blowing kisses. He had the most contagious laugh and gave the best hugs. His greatest joy was playing with his older sister Tessa, who he would happily allow to boss him around. They were 17 months apart and inseparable. They did everything together, never spending a moment apart. Their bond was so beautiful. They enjoyed library time together, trips to the park, the grocery store, to My Gym and to the beach. Even before Conor could talk, they would lie next to each other, babbling back and forth in their own special language and laughing.
Two days before he died, we had our last family outing. We went pumpkin picking at Jones Farm. He spent the day running through the farm, laughing and playing happily. On October 25, Conor woke up with a fever of 102, but was still his happy and playful self. He had a slight runny nose, but otherwise looked great. He finished his usual breakfast of Cheerios and bananas and was sitting on the couch, watching Elmo with Tessa, saying "more, more" for more bananas. Within an hour, his fever had subsided and he was chasing Tessa around the house. He went down for his usual morning nap at 10:30 and an hour later, he was unresponsive. The moments that followed were the most horrible moments any parent can experience. The staff at Bridgeport Hospital were amazing, letting us and our family members sit for hours, holding our beautiful baby boy and trying to say goodbye. Conor's cause of death was undetermined, leading us to discover the category of death of SUDC, sudden unexplained death in childhood, the sudden and unexpected death of a child over 12 months of age. We were grateful that amidst our grief, we were connected with the SUDC Foundation and learned that we were not alone in facing this tragedy.
We created this website to honor Conor's amazing spirit and life. It is our hope that this will provide a way for people who did not have the honor of meeting him to learn about Conor and for our loved ones to cherish his memories with us.
