{"id":553377,"date":"2026-07-31T17:19:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/553377\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T17:19:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:19:20","slug":"rotorua-family-mourns-jasper-meyer-5-after-sudden-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/553377\/","title":{"rendered":"Rotorua family mourns Jasper Meyer, 5, after sudden death"},"content":{"rendered":"

She said doctors described them as \u201cfebrile convulsions\u201d and told the family it was likely he would grow out of them.<\/p>\n

There was nothing different about Jasper\u2019s day last Friday to indicate he was unwell, so for now the family are waiting for answers.<\/p>\n

Miracle boy<\/p>\n

Jasper Nathan Meyer was born during Covid-19 restrictions in Tauranga, where they lived for the first two years of his life.<\/p>\n

His parents described Jasper as their \u201cmiracle\u201d baby.<\/p>\n

He was born nearly two months premature, and Edmunds said he surprised everyone by coming out \u201cone foot first\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"JasperJasper Meyer, 5, was an adored little boy who loved trucks. He died in his sleep last week. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe kicked his way out, and we have made the joke that he\u2019s been running since day one.\u201d <\/p>\n

He was supposed to spend two months in the special care baby unit but, after less than a month, he had grown to a healthy weight and was ready to go home.<\/p>\n

Talking to the Rotorua Daily Post about their son, Edmunds\u2019 and Meyer\u2019s faces light up for a brief moment through their grief as they recount funny story after funny story.<\/p>\n

They said Jasper was \u201cstraight up\u201d with his teachers, often saying funny things to have them in stitches. He would also like to wind up his family. <\/p>\n

He would sing at the top of his lungs, making as much noise as possible, and wouldn\u2019t stop no matter how hard they tried. Edmunds would eventually surrender and leave the room to get peace.<\/p>\n

Meyer said his son loved trucks, especially fire trucks, cars and going to the speedway with his uncle Matty.<\/p>\n

He would happily play outside in the cold with bare feet and adored messing around with his Tonka trucks in the impressive water feature at the Edmunds family\u2019s home in Rotorua.<\/p>\n

\"JasperJasper Meyer, photographed a few weeks before he died suddenly in his sleep, is pictured polishing the fuel tank of a truck at his grandfather’s work. He was to be taken in the same truck on his final ride before his funeral service. <\/p>\n

Just weeks before his death, Jasper was photographed polishing the fuel tank of a Western Star truck at his grandfather\u2019s workplace. <\/p>\n

That same truck will be used today to take him on his final ride past his primary school and kindergarten, BestStart Kawaha Point, before his funeral service at the Rotorua Crematorium this afternoon.<\/p>\n

Edmunds said her son was described by many as an \u201cold soul\u201d, giving the example that one of his favourite foods was Turkish delight.<\/p>\n

Meyer said his boy \u201ctouched a lot of hearts\u201d, and Edmunds agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was just so bright and happy. Not a single room he walked into that he didn\u2019t put a smile on people\u2019s faces. Even if you were having the worst day of your life, he would make you smile.\u201d<\/p>\n

As they spent this week clinging to their memories of Jasper and preparing for his funeral, she said they were trying to be strong for other family members, including Jasper\u2019s younger sister, Athena.<\/p>\n

\"JasperJasper Meyer (right) was born prematurely during Covid-19 restrictions. His sister Athena (left) was born a few years later, also premature, after a cryptic pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Athena, 2, was also born prematurely after a cryptic pregnancy. \u201cI had no idea I was pregnant until I had her,\u201d Edmunds said.<\/p>\n

The house was not the same without her son, and even Jasper\u2019s favourite dog, Cadbury, seemed \u201clost\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not something you expect at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family was now exploring possible genetic conditions that could have led to Jasper\u2019s death. <\/p>\n

Edmunds said she had learned she had had a seizure when she was young, and her first cousin also suffered seizures.<\/p>\n

Kelly Makiha<\/a> is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She said doctors described them as \u201cfebrile convulsions\u201d and told the family it was likely he would grow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[28848,74,634,2109,74247,64010,34535,111,43,139,69,1327,24994],"class_list":["post-553377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-28848","tag-after","tag-death","tag-family","tag-jasper","tag-meyer","tag-mourns","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rotorua","tag-sudden"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}