There was no red carpet at Monday night’s advance screening of the locally shot Adam Sandler comedy “Blended,” but there was a star: little Tripp Halstead.
The metro Atlanta child seriously injured by a falling tree limb in 2012 now has more than 1 million Facebook followers on the page where his family members post updates on his progress. Among his social media “friends,” apparently, were members of the cast, and when “Blended” set up shop in Flowery Branch last summer, the movie folks got in touch with the Halsteads.
“They said they would love to have Tripp come visit,” said Stacy Halstead, who unfortunately was out of town during her son’s Hollywood encounter. “My husband and my mom and Tripp’s nurse got to take him on the set. It was amazing. Everyone was so nice to them. All of them took turns coming up and meeting him.”
Tripp, who turns 4 in September, suffered a traumatic brain injury when a tree branch fell and crushed part of his skull. Last year, a team of volunteer carpenters, contractors, plumbers and painters, organized by the Sunshine on a Ranney Day charity, worked to retrofit the family’s Jefferson house to accommodate his special needs.
While posts on Tripp’s Facebook page have included heartbreaking images of him in the hospital, more hopeful updates have detailed his positive response to therapy. He’s starting to show more personality, for example, by smiling or pouting.
“Tripp is doing really, really well,” Stacy Halstead said. “He just finished out his school year. He went two days a week. They’re looking forward to him going three days a week starting in August. He’ll have his regular therapies two days a week. So he’ll be a very busy baby, between school and therapy.”
He just had his tonsils out but faces no more surgeries for now.
“Our day-to-day life in the summer will be a little slower,” Stacy Halstead said. “We have a pool now and he loves it. We think that’ll help a lot.”
“Blended,” starring Sandler and Drew Barrymore as a couple who meet first on a disastrous blind date but reconnect at a family resort, opens Friday. Tripp was able to stay awake throughout the movie on Monday at AMC Parkway Pointe 15 in Cobb County.
“You’re going to see your friends,” his mom told him as the lights dimmed.
“They’re huge, A-list stars,” she said. “It was very impressive that they would take the time to get to know Tripp and talk to him. They were so sweet and held his hand. It was a really big deal for them to take the time to come meet my baby.”
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