Boy dies in Santa's arms

Photo: Facebook - Eric Schmitt-Matze

A young terminally-ill boy died in Santa's arms.

Eric Schmitt-Matze, who does about 80 events each year, was asked a few weeks ago to visit the dying boy in a Tennessee hospital.

He gave the five-year-old boy a toy and a hug. As the two embraced, the child said, "Santa, can you help me?"

Then he died in his arms.

"I cried all the way home," Schmitt-Matzen told USA Today. 

"I was a basket case for three days. It took me a week or two to stop thinking about it all the time. Actually, I thought I might crack up and never be able to play the part again.”

He's since returned to playing Santa Claus.