Granger Smith’s Wife Shares the Pain That Changed Everything

THE UNTHINKABLE

On June 4, 2019, Amber Smith and former country music artist Granger Smith faced every parent’s worst nightmare. In a matter of seconds, their three-year-old son, River, got through the gates of their backyard pool and drowned. Granger was outside with all three kids while Amber raced to take a quick shower. While watching his daughter show him her gymnastics routine, he had only taken his eyes off River for a minute to turn back around and find him floating in the pool. After calling 911, Granger and Amber started CPR. The ambulance arrived, and the EMTs were able to get a pulse. They rushed to the hospital in hopes that River would survive. Doctors put him on life support, only to realize later that his brain was dead. River was only being kept alive by a breathing machine. Agonizing over when to turn the machine off, Granger asked the doctor what he would do if it were his son. The doctor replied, “I would stop.” When the day came to turn the breathing machine off, they all said their goodbyes, and River peacefully went home to be with Jesus. 

The hours, days, months, and even years that followed were filled with trauma and pain that brought them to their knees. All the Smith family members grieved in different ways. Amber found solace alone in the bathroom, where she could grieve and cry privately. She shares, “In my darkest moments, I made myself search for the light. I sought the Lord even though I didn’t truly know Him. It was in the rawness of my grief that I began to see more clearly the One who does know our pain intimately,” She continues, “I came to know Jesus not as a distant figure but as one who suffers and cries with us.” 

Granger prayed for comfort but kept his pain inside, trying to be a rock for his family. He turned to alcohol to numb the pain. Everything culminated one night while he was away on tour. He couldn’t handle the emotional torment any longer, pulled out a gun, and put it to his head, ready to pull the trigger. He was stopped by a profound spiritual realization when he suddenly realized that the voice urging him to pull the trigger was not his own, but part of a deeper spiritual battle. He calls it the night he met Satan. It took him over 3 years to share that with Amber.

At that critical moment, Granger cried out to God, asking Jesus to save him. 

Immediately, the overwhelming visions ceased, the gun slipped from his grasp, and he collapsed onto the floor, overcome with tears and exhaustion. Later, the thought of his two older children, London and Lincoln, reminded him of his responsibility and love for them. This combined spiritual awakening and focus on his family allowed him to survive the crisis and ultimately led him toward healing and his later decision to become a minister following God's call on his life. 

FINDING HOPE

Amber’s book, The Girl on the Bathroom Floor, shares the depths of her grief, trauma, and faith in the face of suffering and loss. She invites us into her most vulnerable moments, recounting not only the pain of losing a child but also the broader struggles she faced in motherhood and feelings of helplessness. Including:

• Private heartbreak on the bathroom floor, where she encountered the greatest pain and found the beginnings of hope and healing.
• How grief does not have to separate people from hope or joy; instead, she shows how it can point toward profound healing and deeper faith in Jesus Christ.

Amber’s story offers comfort to those who feel unseen or undone in their sorrow, serving as a compass to hope and joy even through the most intense suffering. 
When their fourth child, Maverick, was born, he brought immense joy back into the family. Now, Maverick, 4, Lincoln Monarch, 11, and London, 14, continue to talk about River daily, recalling happy memories of him. When River’s birthday comes around, they buy a cake and sing him "Happy Birthday." 
 

For more information on Amber Smith, click the LINK! or to order her newest book, The Girl on the Bathroom Floor, click the LINK!

CREDITS

Author, The Girl on the Bathroom Floor (Thomas Nelson, October 14, 2025); Podcast host of Rise 
with Amber, Social media influencer; YouTube family show, The Smiths TV; Founder, The River Kelly Fund; married to former country music artist Granger Smith; four children.