Death at DW today

[TruBlu]

I read in another post that someone was trying to get an address so we could send the family sympathy cards. I can't find it now. Does anyone know if they found it? I would really like to send a card.

 

[Yacht Club Family]

My sincerest to the family. They are from KY, so we've heard about it quite a bit since it happened. As horrible as it was, I also agree that sometimes no one is to blame. Life goes on, good, bad and everything in between. Our society has started finding blame and fault for everything like that makes it better. I don't care if they got a billion dollars from the park or the pediatrician, it won't bring back their son.

If lightning struck and killed someone, who would you (generic) sue, the local meteorologist for not telling you when to come in out of the rain?? Nope. Sometimes, bad things happen...period.

I think the important thing is allowing the family peace and dignity in dealing with a horrific situation. Our sincerest prayers to them.

 

[Minniespal]

Tragic.

 

[Tink215]

My Thoughts and prayers are with the family, How very tragic, No matter How It Happened or Were it happened, I cannot imagine losing a child......and this is what sticks out the most in my head, not that it happened in Disney or what ride it happened on but that this family has lost there child.......And they have to live with the fact that they lost a child......Again Very Sad, I will be praying for them......

 

[polkadotladybug]

I haven't read all the posts, but I keep thinking about how awful this is for the boy's family.

I also think about the after-ride photo (I think it's taken right when you are taking off into the tunnel?) - if you could tell anything from his expression? Weird to think about but it's still on my mind.

 

[gabbysmom04]

God how sad! My son has two heart defects one that causes a murmur , and the other was only picked up because of the other defect. Sometimes you can't tell what is going on until something bad happens. It's just so sad...

 

[hockeymedic2000]

My sincerest to the family. They are from KY, so we've heard about it quite a bit since it happened. As horrible as it was, I also agree that sometimes no one is to blame. Life goes on, good, bad and everything in between. Our society has started finding blame and fault for everything like that makes it better. I don't care if they got a billion dollars from the park or the pediatrician, it won't bring back their son.

If lightning struck and killed someone, who would you (generic) sue, the local meteorologist for not telling you when to come in out of the rain?? Nope. Sometimes, bad things happen...period.

I think the important thing is allowing the family peace and dignity in dealing with a horrific situation. Our sincerest prayers to them.

i aggree totally. we, as a society, have to place blame on someone or something. it's just one of those things that happens. it's bad, but you have to keep on living no matter how hard it is. i see it alot in my work (i'm a paramedic).

 

[pafer]

This really worries me. I hope the family, rather than sue Disney or anything, leave Disney alone cuz I'd be livid at my son's pediatrician. I cant stand that I feel like this has been happening more and more. What needs to be done is that doctors and pediatricians need to make heart testing mandatory, it should be a regulated standardized test done for everyone every year...this way they can decide which rides are okay for them to go on...not find out after it's too late. This heart ailment thing is something I keep hearing about that continues to go seemingly undetected (ex: last years little boy, this years little boy, a girl that went to the district I work at, John Ritter, ...). But thats because tests on your heart isnt something people thinkl to get checked out, especially the youngins! I dont know, I think when I become a parent I'm going to ask my doctor to check EVERYTHING on my kid, just to be on the safe side. I'm only 25 years old but I recently had my heart and aorta checked out.

Why are so many ppl today so quick to wish to place blame and then try to make money out of accidents. Comments like the one above and several I read after it really upset me. Malpractice insurance rates for physicians are sky rocketing as it is because so many ppl see things like this as a way to never have to work again.

My DH is a pediatrician and I am a nurse. Many ppl on this thread have already talked about why this might have happened and how a defibrilator may not have worked. Many have mentioned why it is not possible to always diagnose these congenital heart defects.The ppl that posted these comments have knowledge that the general public do not have. Medical training that you do not have. Pediatricians are not God, they cannot see things in hindsight that you see now! They do what they can with the knowledge they have to deal with. If this boy had no signs of any heart problems then why do any tests to check the heart? Insurance companies do not cover tests done with no medical necessity. Most families do not have the extra thousands of dollars lying around to pay for the tests themselves. Oh and like already mentioned these test might not have noticed the problem unless it occured while testing. So why then must ppl continue to look for the person who should be sued. It is not the physicians fault, it is not the rollercoasters fault, it is not the fault of the Disney Corporation. It is a tragic accident which occured as a result of underlying issues no one was aware of at the time.

I hope this family does not sue anyone. What good would it do? It would not bring back their son. It would not turn back time to prevent it from happening again. Money will not ease their grief.

 

[DisFhan]

I may be confusing RnR with a different ride, but I seem to recall a story from a while back where a ride was stopped because someone didn't look right on the control room's monitors? Does anyone else remember this?

I can completely understand the CMs not telling the real reason why the ride is closed- they would get a thousand questions about what happened, and they really didn't have enough info to answer them yet. I am surprised if they were saying they didn't know- doesn't Disney have a rule against cast members saying I don't know? I'm surprised they didn't say something like the ride was closed for maintenance or testing, though.

I must be horrible anytime a child dies of an a problem that you never even knew they had, but I can't imagine how much worse it must be when you're on a family vacation!

To answer your question about the ride stopping because of the control room, it does happen. I was on the ride this week and it stopped twice. Right as we left the station and then we went through the launch set-up and right when we where going to launch the ride did not fire. The CM's came up again and told two people to put their arms under the harness,one of the Cm's had already told the person the first time. So I guess they can see from the control room what people are doing. I am not blaming this current death on that issue. I was just answering the question....It is a very tragic situation.

 

[helenm29]

If my child died of something I didn't know about...you BET I'd be looking at the Pediatrition!
only because that would be one of my first reactions in my grief! WHY did it happen, WHY didn't they know about it in all of the physicals my child had had? they are DOCTORS, they are supposed to be able to find ANYTHING right? I don't know why we all assume that! the body is very complicated and as some people have said, it would cost thousands of out of pocket dollars to have special tests for something you don't even know is there. hopefully, there would be no blame to be put anywhere. I know not everyone would handle their grief the same and god forbid I would ever have to do it!
in my family there are several medical factors that truely scare me when I think about my kids having them...like heart desease, diabetes, high blood pressure. I take them to the pediatrition for check ups all the time and talk to the doctors about these problems so that they know they exist. I make sure they exercise and eat healthy so what else can I do? I will drive myself crazy if I worry all the time about them becoming ill or worse!
I truely feal sorry for the parents and family members of this young man! We are NOT supposed to out live our children! I would love to send the family a card but at this stage, I would truely not know what to say to make them feal better. Maybe after some small amount of time for them to try and accept what happened? if that's at all possible.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

I agree,

When I was two years old, during a routine check up, a doctor thought her heard a heart murmur. I had EKG, and many tests since then and nothing has ever been heard since then. So one time in 26 years, a doctor thought he heard something. My point is, if there really is arythmia, it can happen anytime, and it won't happen for years before or after. Even if they have 24 hour Holter monitoring, etc.

In addition, why just the heart? Problems can occur anywhere- brain aneurysms are fairly well known, too. Testing every child every year with all the most sophisticated technology for cardiology, neurology, not to mention all the other organs one could test, would mean that a child would be in the doctor's office once a week for the rest of their lives and parents would have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars every year out of pocket. And all that would still not guarantee that that once in 16 years problem couldn't happen sometime.

Not just in the medical industry, but everywhere, when a tragedy happens, people want someone or something to blame. It's really hard to accept something horrible. If people don't blame something, they often end up blaming God, or themselves- none of which is going to help the situation. I've done it myself. It's just extremely hard to look at one of the most tragic events in your life and say I guess these things happen. You want some answer or some reason, even when that's impossible.

I hope that this family supports each other and stays strong esp. for the sake of the 7 year old who saw all this take place. It is a horrible thing, and no one deserves to bury a child. I will keep them in my thoughts and prayers.

Why are so many ppl today so quick to wish to place blame and then try to make money out of accidents. Comments like the one above and several I read after it really upset me. Malpractice insurance rates for physicians are sky rocketing as it is because so many ppl see things like this as a way to never have to work again.

My DH is a pediatrician and I am a nurse. Many ppl on this thread have already talked about why this might have happened and how a defibrilator may not have worked. Many have mentioned why it is not possible to always diagnose these congenital heart defects.The ppl that posted these comments have knowledge that the general public do not have. Medical training that you do not have. Pediatricians are not God, they cannot see things in hindsight that you see now! They do what they can with the knowledge they have to deal with. If this boy had no signs of any heart problems then why do any tests to check the heart? Insurance companies do not cover tests done with no medical necessity. Most families do not have the extra thousands of dollars lying around to pay for the tests themselves. Oh and like already mentioned these test might not have noticed the problem unless it occured while testing. So why then must ppl continue to look for the person who should be sued. It is not the physicians fault, it is not the rollercoasters fault, it is not the fault of the Disney Corporation. It is a tragic accident which occured as a result of underlying issues no one was aware of at the time.

I hope this family does not sue anyone. What good would it do? It would not bring back their son. It would not turn back time to prevent it from happening again. Money will not ease their grief.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

How do we know for certain that this family did NOT know their son had a heart condition? I feel bad for this family. Losing a child is awful, but we might be speculating here...Many heart conditions ARE discovered when children are born.

I'm not judging THIS family at all...but I've seen lots of other families ignore the warnings at WDW - pregnant women, children who are too short trying to sneak on a ride, etc. We even saw a dad hold his son out over the fire pit at AKL!

Mind, some rides that are pretty tame have tons of warnings now - so that it's hard to tell when you really should heed the warnings, and when they are just frivolous-lawsuit protection.

In any event, a sad situation...

 

[RockNGirl26]

this made me very sad upon hearing the news. its hard to imagine i was just on this ride sunday night & making fun of my injuries later on after the ride (i came out with extremely black and blue shoulders and lines down my back & ribcage; however, all of my other friends were fine). i truly feel horrible for the family of this young boy. my heart & prayers go out to him & his family.

 

[snowy76]

they are DOCTORS, they are supposed to be able to find ANYTHING right?

If doctors could find anything, then presumably we'd be able to live forever. I've known some doctors with "God complexes" but I've yet to meet one with God's powers.

My aunt just died from mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lungs and heart) at age 60. It was caused by breathing in asbestos somewhere, sometime before she finished high school (we think) since symptoms of the illness don't show for at least 30 years. How was a doctor supposed to find that?? Her 80-something mother (my grandma) outlived her. Fair? No. But this is how life goes. You take the good with the bad. Looking for blame is a natural part of the grief process, but that doesn't mean that someone IS actually to blame.

 

[#1MMFan]

If doctors could find anything, then presumably we'd be able to live forever. I've known some doctors with "God complexes" but I've yet to meet one with God's powers.

My aunt just died from mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lungs and heart) at age 60. It was caused by breathing in asbestos somewhere, sometime before she finished high school (we think) since symptoms of the illness don't show for at least 30 years. How was a doctor supposed to find that?? Her 80-something mother (my grandma) outlived her. Fair? No. But this is how life goes. You take the good with the bad. Looking for blame is a natural part of the grief process, but that doesn't mean that someone IS actually to blame.

I love your sentence about God Complexes. It is so true. I know and have worked with many of these types of drs, being a dr myself. I may say that it is rather sad that someone has an expectation of drs being able to find "anything". We are just as human as anyone else, please remember.
Thanks again for that quote - i'm going to keep it and use it at opportune moments...

 

[Lizzybee]

How do we know for certain that this family did NOT know their son had a heart condition? I feel bad for this family. Losing a child is awful, but we might be speculating here...Many heart conditions ARE discovered when children are born.

I'm not judging THIS family at all...but I've seen lots of other families ignore the warnings at WDW - pregnant women, children who are too short trying to sneak on a ride, etc. We even saw a dad hold his son out over the fire pit at AKL!

Mind, some rides that are pretty tame have tons of warnings now - so that it's hard to tell when you really should heed the warnings, and when they are just frivolous-lawsuit protection.

In any event, a sad situation...

I mentioned in a thread (this one or another?) a family who did know their son had a congenital heart defect that could cause him to die at any time. He collapsed and died after walking the track in gym class. He was 15 yrs old. They decided, with their son and physician, that since anything could kill him, they'd let him live life to the fullest while he was here. He played on the school soccer team (his dr gave him the physical) and lived life without restriction. Soccer didn't kill him, an easy day walking the track in gym class did. So were they wrong to let him live life without restrictions? I guess I would say no. To me, it sounds like the family in this case did not know because they were shocked. The parents of the boy at our school were not shocked, they were calm but very sad.

I can't even imagine losing a child, I'm so sad for them.

 

[2d_star_to_the_right]

Two Things:

1) Pediatricians/Pediatric Nurse Practitioners can only do so much. You can assess the heart via its sounds, rhytmn as well as through pulse pressures, blood pressure as well as looking for obvious signs such as clubbing of nails, bluish cast to the skin and so on. There is an important balance to be weighed- tests have side effects too: pain, radiation, emotional anxiety, etc. Not to mention that cardiac testing for kids is not as plentiful as for adults for obvious reasons and appointment times could be extremely long. In fact, it could prevent those from needing those tests from getting it quickly. It is easy to become angry at the pediatrician- how could they not know? But remember the pediatrician may NOT have even seen this child for years. As a 12 year old- he may not have been required by State Law to have a school physical (generally they are done at certain grades). Not every parent takes their child for an annual physical. A pediatrician gets a whopping 15 min for a physical- 30 min if you have a really good practice. There is ALOT to cover in that time period- especially with adolescence pending. Many parents and kids brush off mild symptoms- such as difficulty catching ones breath- as other causes. Perhaps at some point a pediatrician DID hear something and recommended follow up- but that didn't happen- perhaps the family moved. Making judgements on the tiny bit of knowledge that is known- is completely irresponsible.

2) A neurologist in our practice did work on the brain and rollar coasters- and what they study is the impact the brain receives as the coaster moves through its turns, bounces, jolts and how the brain shifts. The impacts are similar to changes that occur in car accidents. Hence- looking at a coaster and seeing how the head is protected, how smooth the ride is, and so on - is just smart, protective sense.

Just thoughts

 

[Mom2Casey]

I haven't read all the posts, but I keep thinking about how awful this is for the boy's family.

I also think about the after-ride photo (I think it's taken right when you are taking off into the tunnel?) - if you could tell anything from his expression? Weird to think about but it's still on my mind.

OMG, I didn't even think of that. I am sure people bought pictures before Disney knew the boy died thus WHAT IF it showed an expression or even worse... him limp and non responsive!! What would you do knowing you had him in YOUR picture? That is just an eerie thing to think about!!

One question I've been wondering.. HOW can people sue Disney when it comes back that the person who died had a problem and Disney's ride did NOT malfunction? Just wondering how a lawyer can say it would be the fault of Disney's as they post warnings and give it a height requirement. Some don't realize the warnings COULD be for them (hence an undetected heart problem) and they are tall enough and think it's ok to ride, I mean why wouldn't they? In this particular case, they were unaware of any heart condition and he met the height requirement however it was an unfortunate ending to the ride. How is Disney at fault for that?? It doesn't seem to be anyone's fault. I personally would be asking a doctor all the whys!!

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

OMG, I didn't even think of that. I am sure people bought pictures before Disney knew the boy died thus WHAT IF it showed an expression or even worse... him limp and non responsive!! What would you do knowing you had him in YOUR picture? That is just an eerie thing to think about!!

One question I've been wondering.. HOW can people sue Disney when it comes back that the person who died had a problem and Disney's ride did NOT malfunction? Just wondering how a lawyer can say it would be the fault of Disney's as they post warnings and give it a height requirement. Some don't realize the warnings COULD be for them (hence an undetected heart problem) and they are tall enough and think it's ok to ride, I mean why wouldn't they? In this particular case, they were unaware of any heart condition and he met the height requirement however it was an unfortunate ending to the ride. How is Disney at fault for that?? It doesn't seem to be anyone's fault. I personally would be asking a doctor all the whys!!

You know how they black out pictures when someone's doing something inappropriate (flashing "sign language" or flashing their "mountains")? I'd hope that the CM's noticed this and blacked that out before anyone saw it.

 

[niklynn1]

My children and I were at Disney MGM Studios on Thursday when this horrible accident happened and it really sort of gave me the creeps. My DS8 was really wanting to ride this when we went to MGM for the first time last Sunday, but DD11 wasn't sure she was willing. We didn't ride it that night, but as our week went on and we visited the other parks she finally worked up her nerve, particularly after talking to an older teen on the bus who told her was not that bad. So, we went back to MGM Thursday for the purpose of riding RnR. We got there about 10 and immediately got a fast pass because we also wanted to see the Lights, Motors, Action show, and we also had ADR's at Sci Fi. After lunch, we made our way back to RnR only to find the gates closed and Disney CM's telling people it would likely be closed for the rest of the day due to "techinal difficulties". My DD11 was so disappointed, but we decided to leave the park and hop back over to the Magic Kingdom. On our way out of the park we noticed two news helicopters hovering overhead and then as we went through the turnstiles we practically collided with a group of people wearing badges who were hustling into the park. At this time I had a feeling something was up. However I wasn't sure until we got into MK and got a call from the kids' dad. Earlier that morning my DD8 had called his dad to tell him that DD11 finally agreed to ride RnR so we were headed there. Dad apparently got a "CNN Breaking News" saying a child had died on RnR and was freaked out so was calling us to check up. I felt so bad for the family whose child died, and at the same time I felt tremendously thankful that my children and I had not gotten on that ride. It sort of made me a bit nervous about rides the rest of the trip. What a tragedy.