Another possible drowning - Disney Fantasy ******UPDATE

[LongLiveDisney]

I saw that post. Just heartbreaking. Praying for the boy and his family.

I use to be a trauma volunteer, called to scenes, hospitals by police, fire, er staff, etc. My last call was devastating for me that I had to stop. It was a backyard drowning. The girl was 8. Parents said she could swim. They were having a BBQ, just their family. The mom was inside doing the dishes the window looking right out at the pool, feeding the smaller daughter, the dad was at the grill - right next to the pool, the oldest daughter by herself in the shallow end of the pool. And she drowned. I stayed at the home with the sister, playing with her, distracting her as their parents left to the hospital. The 6 year old sister took me to her room to play, she shared with her older sister. She looked up at me and asked me "Is sissy coming home? I don't think she's coming home."

It was shattering to walk right into their nightmare, seeing everything just as it was. Steaks, juice, towels, lights on the pool. At the time my daughter was 8 too. When the parents came home, they told their child and the crying was something I'll never forget. I was also helping family members, aunts, uncles, grandparents.

I did many calls, suicides, accident sites, even was with an elderly wife at the bedside when her husband passed in the hospital. But this one devastated me. All I could think about was my daughter and I cried for weeks.

I cried reading your post. I can't imagine just how terrible that was for the family.

Praying that the boy pulls through.

 

[FlyingDumbo]

Yes...it can happen in the blink of an eye.

The DIS never disappoints. Posters enjoy kicking a person when they are down...then pile on. It makes me sick.

How so? By having a reasonable expectation that parents actually parent their children?

 

[PizzieDuster]

I cried reading your post. I can't imagine just how terrible that was for the family.

Praying that the boy pulls through.

It was awful. She's buried at the same cemetary as my brother and I always stop by, in the childrens section. I can still remember her bedroom, her crafts, her bed, her pictures in that room.

Her family worked really hard on preventing drownings in the media. Everytime summer comes and the paper does that article again, you know, about drownings, she's always interviewed. Very sad.

I know the Orlando Centinnial paper is investigating...I hope he's okay.

 

[TLSnell1981]

How so? By having a reasonable expectation that parents actually parent their children?

This is your first reaction, not a moment of empathy or compassion? Tried and convicted, with very little information, a bit of hearsay and no facts?

 

[LuLuO]

I'm sure many of you have seen this but wanted to provide the link again. 'Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning' is an important read.

http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/


I am so scared of my kids drowning. They take swim lessons and I watch them like a hawk. My husband thinks I'm a nut but it only takes a moment and everything can change. I am so sad for the parents.

 

[swimfly]

It doesnt make sense to me as to why they'd only have someone monitor the slide and not the pool.

Liability. Although, I'd imagined Disney is self-insured. Insurance companies require a guard (who may not even be certified as a lifeguard as they are often called "attendants") to monitor a slide even if the remainder of the pool is swim-at-your-own-risk.

the oldest daughter by herself in the shallow end of the pool.

My toughest rescues were swimmers who had medical emergencies in the water (seizure, diabetic episode, etc). So even though they were stellar swimmers it didn't prevent the near-drowning.

My heart breaks for the family! I cannot imagine the emotional toll of heading towards a family vacay to a medical emergency.

 

[Allison]

This is your first reaction, not a moment of empathy or compassion? Tried and convicted, with very little information, a bit of hearsay and no facts?

No kidding. Accidents happen in the blink of an eye. No one knows anything about these parents. They could be the best parents in the world and terrible things still happen. I hope none of these people passing judgement ever have to experience something like this to find out how helpless you can be in these situations.

Unfortunately I have seen it up close and personally in my family. I lost a sibling due to a freak accident. I wish it on no one.

I hope this does not end in tragedy.

 

[anniemae]

Oh how awful. I hope that child is okay. Stories like this just rip me apart.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Here is an article i found. They quote the other thread on this board. Apparently the boy was 4 yrs old? Wow.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...ntasy-drowning-child-20130330,0,2927140.story

 

[goofyintoronto]

This is your first reaction, not a moment of empathy or compassion? Tried and convicted, with very little information, a bit of hearsay and no facts?

Of course there's empathy and compassion. You'd have to be heartless not to feel it. But I think we're all just trying to remind parents to be extra careful with your kids while on vacation.

 

[sam_gordon]

Of course there's empathy and compassion. You'd have to be heartless not to feel it. But I think we're all just trying to remind parents to be extra careful with your kids while on vacation.

The thing is accidents can happen at any time. I wonder, everyone who is criticizing these parents, at what age do you not have to watch your kid 24/7/365? With a 9 year old child, while I don't think I'd leave the pool area, I might be reading or watching something else. I think it's in very poor taste to criticize the parents.

However, if the report is correct and the child was only 4, not only should the parents not leave the pool area, one (or a responsible adult) should be in the pool with the child. I think there's more to the story. I don't see anyway a parent leaves a 4 year old at a pool without an adult (or at least older child) to watch out for them.

For me, my child would need to be ~7 to be in the water without an adult in the water. Probably 10-12 before I let them go to the pool unattended.

 

[richw2]

My wife was a lifeguard a Disney for many years...Amazing how many parents just drop the kids off at the water parks and use them as baby sitters. Just plain wrong!! The drowning at the park last month took place when the pools were closed, no life guards on duty, and the boy was diving in shallow water.. Today also posted no life guard, and no parents there with a 4 year old in family pool. I feel so bad here, but the parents should... never mind...I wont go there... A sad night for sure...

 

[OceanAnnie]

I'm so sorry to read about this. Heartbreaking.

I saw that post. Just heartbreaking. Praying for the boy and his family.

I use to be a trauma volunteer, called to scenes, hospitals by police, fire, er staff, etc. My last call was devastating for me that I had to stop. It was a backyard drowning. The girl was 8. Parents said she could swim. They were having a BBQ, just their family. The mom was inside doing the dishes the window looking right out at the pool, feeding the smaller daughter, the dad was at the grill - right next to the pool, the oldest daughter by herself in the shallow end of the pool. And she drowned. I stayed at the home with the sister, playing with her, distracting her as their parents left to the hospital. The 6 year old sister took me to her room to play, she shared with her older sister. She looked up at me and asked me "Is sissy coming home? I don't think she's coming home."

It was shattering to walk right into their nightmare, seeing everything just as it was. Steaks, juice, towels, lights on the pool. At the time my daughter was 8 too. When the parents came home, they told their child and the crying was something I'll never forget. I was also helping family members, aunts, uncles, grandparents.

I did many calls, suicides, accident sites, even was with an elderly wife at the bedside when her husband passed in the hospital. But this one devastated me. All I could think about was my daughter and I cried for weeks.

This story is so vivid and sad. Put a lump in my throat.

I'm sure many of you have seen this but wanted to provide the link again. 'Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning' is an important read.

http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/


I am so scared of my kids drowning. They take swim lessons and I watch them like a hawk. My husband thinks I'm a nut but it only takes a moment and everything can change. I am so sad for the parents.

I am a fanatic about my children around water. They have had lessons and have swam competitively. I still watch them.

There was an incident where the kids were taking swimming lessons. They were in the early years of elementary. I was sitting beside the pool a few feet away, talking with a parent. One of my kids went to get a ring that had drifted away from the wall. He let go and went towards the ring and couldn't get back. I wasn't looking at him, I was talking. I heard a little something that got my attention. Then I glanced over and saw a look of terror in his eyes and saw him struggling to get to the side. He couldn't make it. He had been trying and panicking for I don't know how long, doing a lot of thrashing to keep his head above water. His breathing was labored. All the kids were silent on the wall watching him! They couldn't help him. They couldn't swim. I don't think they knew what they were witnessing. The instructor was a good bit away in the water, talking to another instructor. She didn't see a thing. I laid on the side of the pool, halfway in and extended my arm out to him and pulled him over.

He sat on my lap crying for half of the class. It took him a long time to even be able to talk. I just held him and told him he was alright. He did join the class again, but I told him he didn't have to get back in that day. The day ended as well as it could, it could have been a tragedy.

I was fortunate to be there. You can bet when I was talking on the side of the pool, I was facing my kids from that point on! I won't drop my kids off at a pool after something like that because even though they can swim, kids take risks that don't seem like risks to them. Not criticizing others, that's just my perspective and what I do after my experience.

I learned that drowning is a silent killer. I think he didn't cry out for help because he spent all of his energy trying to get a breath and breathing.

I'll never forget that day as long as I live.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Here is an article i found. They quote the other thread on this board. Apparently the boy was 4 yrs old? Wow.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...ntasy-drowning-child-20130330,0,2927140.story

There are conflicting reports, regarding the child's age, and the DIS is the source for the parent's whereabouts. The only new information is the name of the hospital

Of course there's empathy and compassion. You'd have to be heartless not to feel it. But I think we're all just trying to remind parents to be extra careful with your kids while on vacation.

Some, but not all. IMO

I remember a thread from last week. A toddler was gunned down and many on the DIS had convicted Mom, within hours. Seems to be a regular occurrence.

 

[sookie]

So sad. I remember someone here on the dis posted a great blog about the signs of drowning - I couldn't find it but I found a similar one.

http://mariarote.com/could-your-child-drown-right-before-your-eyes/

What we think is drowning just doesn't look like drowning. It just seems so silent. I took this from the article.

1. Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically
unable to call out for help. The respiratory system
was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary, or overlaid,
function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.

2. Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear
above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people
are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to
exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s
mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as
their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.

3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively
forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on
the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water,
permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can
lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.

4. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning
people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements.
Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface
of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary
movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer,
or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.

5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response
people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of
a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these
drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water
from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

 

[Allison]

There are conflicting reports, regarding the child's age, and the DIS is the source for the parent's whereabouts. The only new information is the name of the hospital

Some, but not all. IMO

I remember a thread from last week. A toddler was gunned down and many on the DIS had convicted Mom, within hours. Seems to be a regular occurrence.

I think it gives people a false sense of security. It makes them feel better to think they are better parents than the families involved in these accidents. If they are better parents, nothing like this could happen to their children.

 

[ManyMinnie]

If reports of the child's age are true, I really hope he was not left unattended at/in the pool.

 

[sam_gordon]

If reports of the child's age are true, I really hope he was not left unattended at/in the pool.

Which reports? That he was 4 (in which I agree) or 9 (I'm willing to cut a little slack)? And yes, the ages make a difference in my mind.

 

[ManyMinnie]

Which reports? That he was 4 (in which I agree) or 9 (I'm willing to cut a little slack)? And yes, the ages make a difference in my mind.

It doesn't in mine, but I was referring to him being 4.

 

[Swimmergirl]

So sad. While it is easy to judge the parents on here, I just feel awful for them. Accidents happen, even to the most attentive parents. And anytime people are swimming there is a chance of drowning. I was a competitive swimmer growing up, and swam for my university. One afternoon a few members of the swim team were getting in an extra workout during finals week. Most of the group was in the diving tank, but one of my friends was in the main part of the pool doing laps. No one knows exactly what happened, but he drowned. He was a highly trained, competitive swimmer. Accidents happen. Pray for the family, but try not to judge too harshly.