KEMAH, Texas The youngest child of a Kemah family that soon will be featured on the ABC Network s reality television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition died Sunday from a seizure, her mother, Melissa Beach, said.
Mercy Beach would have been 2 years old today.
Even though Mercy was born with many genetic problems, her death was unexpected, Melissa Beach, said.
Mercy had had a tracheotomy and was on oxygen, but her health was getting better, Beach said.
For us, this is very sudden, she said. Her sisters, Hope and Faith, took her passing really hard.
Larry and Melissa Beach and their 13 children, nine of whom are adopted, were displaced from their Kemah home by Hurricane Ike.
We were called the Beach 15, she said.
The family lived for months in two Federal Emergency Management Agency mobile homes and recently lived in a single mobile home.
Their plight garnered attention from producers of Extreme Makeover, who teamed up with thousands of volunteers from Galveston County and other parts of Texas to build the family a 6,340-square-foot, two-story house.
The episode featuring the Beaches will be the show s season finale. It will be dedicated to Mercy and will air on ABC on April 4.
The Beaches, advocates for special-needs adoptions, have been married for 23 years and have fostered 85 children through the years. They had been in the process of adopting Mercy.
We knew Mercy had a lot of problems, she said.
Melissa Beach, who recently filed to run for Kemah City Council said families or couples looking at adopting a child should consider giving children like Mercy a chance to have a loving family for the short time they are here.
You never know the joy these children will give you, she said.
Reporter Karn Dhingra can be reached at 409-683-5314 or karn.dhingra(at)galvnews.com.
