Child's Death at Epcot

[Mommyof2]

that is absolutly terrible. I can ever imagine losing a child, the thought gets me sick. That poor mother, she will be in my prayers.

 

[LadyLuc361]

yikes, this scares me. I am from PA...I wonder where that family is from. It is so sad. I think I have a hypochondriac problem b/c I am thinking of skipping M:S on our next trip now.

Things like this make me so sad. This poor family was at Disney trying to have a magical vacation. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.

 

[All Aboard]

You have to question the parents judgement for taking a child that young on that intense a ride.

ncgolfer, I'm not sure I could disagree with you any more than I do. In all of the lengthy cautionary spiels that one gets inundated with before boarding this attraction, at no point are you cautioned against taking children. The child was at least 44 inches tall. The parents are clearly not to blame for this. (and, I am not implying that Disney is, either.)

 

[bicker]

You have to question the parents judgement for taking a child that young on that intense a ride.

Sometimes bad things happen without there being any fault. There is risk in every aspect of life, and for all we know, could ever know, whatever happened to this young boy would have happened anyway, perhaps while flying home, or while playing baseball next week. It's very depressing when bad things like this occur to such young children.

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

So very sad; my prayers go out to the family!

 

[Disneygrl36]

This makes me very sad.
My thoughts & prayers go out to the family.

 

[Aneille]

You have to question the parents judgement for taking a child that young on that intense a ride. I pray for them as we speak, as they will have to live with this for the rest of their lives!

Your kidding right? Blaming the parent at a time like this?

I feel very bad for the famiy and I am sure the parents are feeling pretty guilty and don't need others passing judgement on them.

I do not think they have any reason to feel guilty however unless they were aware of some pre-existing condition. And I highly doubt that is the case.

 

[LargoLori]

This was just reported on the Today Show news segment. I can not even imagine the pain the family must be feeling. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

Lori

 

[MiaSRN62]

Ladyluc361 says : I am from PA...I wonder where that family is from.

I was wondering as well, as I am from PA too. This is all I could find on a google search (from Jacksonville paper) :

Officials said the boy was from Pennsylvania, but his hometown was not immediately available. A cause of death could not be immediately determined and an autopsy was expected Tuesday.

I found it unusual that my google search only came up with articles from FL newspapers. You would think a PA news source would have popped up in the search ?
This is so sad and tragic. My heart and prayers go out to the family. I agree with bicker. Sometimes things just happen and noone is to blame. I'm sure the parents feel a world of guilt over this though. They probably put their trust in the fact that this was "disney". There could have been many factors that played into this tragedy as mentioned in previous posts.

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

I agree with those who think the boy had a pre existing heart or other medical condition. Especially since the paramedics were able to revive him only to have him die in the ambulance. I would think that if it were a choking situation, he would have improved once the airway was cleared.
Very sad.

 

[KisstheGirl]

I cannot even imagine how this family must be feeling right now. I too find it hard to believe that this ride is the exclusive cause of death. Hopefully the autopsy will reveal information that will prevent this from happening in the future.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Jovidan says : You DO have to question the judgement to take such a iyung child on such an intense ride. Obviously, they had NO idea such a tragic event would occur, but still, there are many who would say this ride is simply too much for such a young child.

You know, I was initially thinking this as well. Then I was looking at the child's name. Sounds like perhaps of Indian decent ? I could be way off on this. But perhaps there was a language barrier and the parents didn't comprehend the type of ride this actually was ? Like I said....could be off on this, but just a suggestion.

 

[MelanieC]

Wow, this is very sad. My prayers go out to his family. I do agree that he probably had some pre-existing condition that was probably unknown to the family.

 

[Laurajean1014]

There should be no blame to anyone at this point.

Let the families grieve before everyone starts a debate.

 

[Pigsty333]

http://www.wftv.com/news/4605694/detail.html

Child Dies On Epcot Attraction

POSTED: 6:00 am EDT June 14, 2005
UPDATED: 7:49 am EDT June 14, 2005

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Investigators from the Orange County Sheriff's Office are looking into the death of a 4-year-old boy after riding an attraction at Walt Disney World's Epcot Monday.


Video


Child Dies On Epcot Attraction


The boy was riding Mission: Space with his mother and sister Monday afternoon, WESH 2 News reported.

When the ride ended, the mother reportedly carried the boy off the ride, and employees helped her place him on a bench, detectives said.

Rescue crews were called to the scene and performed CPR on the child before transporting him to Celebration Hospital. Doctors at the hospital pronounced him dead just before 5 p.m. Monday.

The boy was identified as Daudi Bamuwamye of Pennsylvania. An autopsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death. A Disney representative said the park is providing support to the family and doing everything they can to help them at this time.

Disney has dealt with other tragedies in its past. A worker fell from the Skyway ride at the Magic Kingdom in 1999 just before the park opened. He was killed. A St. Petersburg man climed out of a boat on the Splash Mountain ride and was hit by another boat in 2000. He also died. In February 2004, a cast member dressed as Pluto was killed when he was run over by a float just as a parade was getting started.

 

[Aneille]

Well, I wouldn't be quite so hard on the poster of that statement. I don't think they were necessarily blaming the parents. However, I agree - You DO have to question the judgement to take such a iyung child on such an intense ride. Obviously, they had NO idea such a tragic event would occur, but still, there are many who would say this ride is simply too much for such a young child.

No its not a situation anyone should be judging or questioning the parents, because every child and every parent has a different idea of what is intense.

I have read numerous posts on this board about children loving this ride.

MS is not scary and many young children love thrill rides.

You can't judge anyone if that child made the height requirement. If they altered shoes, or took them on when they knew he didn't make the requirement that is very very different. Parents make decisions based on their family. For all we know this child has rode MS before and enjoyed it as hundreds of others already have.

So please stop judging the parents because this is not what they need right now.

 

[tomerin]

Sometimes bad things happen without there being any fault. There is risk in every aspect of life, and for all we know, could ever know, whatever happened to this young boy would have happened anyway, perhaps while flying home, or while playing baseball next week. It's very depressing when bad things like this occur to such young children.

how true. couldnt have said it any better .

 

[michaelwilliammidd]

This is a horrible situation and I can't imagine what that family is feeling.My thoughts are with them. I too believe the child had a pre-existing condition...perhaps even one his parents were unaware of. As far as being afraid to ride M:S or other thrill rides now....we all need to remember that hundreds of thousands of guests have ridden this ride with no more incident than some motion sickness. These rides are developed and tested for years in advance for safety. Sometimes things like this happen with no prompting at all, this one MAY have just taken place while on M:S. Thousands of people lose their lives on the freeways of our country, yet we all continue to get out there and drive as opposed to just avoiding it all. I think writing off M:S because of this lone incident is just as illogical.

 

[lenshanem]

Yep, you definitely can't blame the parents. My neighbors are going in a couple weeks and they are totally clueless. I've been trying to tell them what to ride, etc. Not everyone that goes there understands what each ride is like.

And accidents can happen anywhere, no matter the ride. Years ago before they put the holding gates up, we saw a little child fall between a IASW boat and the side. They were crushed. I always wondered what happened to that child. The mom was speaking Spanish and was very upset!

 

[tomerin]

my heart goes out to the family. i recently lost my niece after a vailant many years battle with spina bifida and i was devistated for a few days

my prayers go out to the family