Heartbreaking news...a big reminder to be aware of wildlife on property

[amg35]

God, I find it somehow even sadder that in the end, this child just drowned.

Me too. Was the poor little guy released by the alligator, and then just couldn't get back to shore and it was dark no one could see? Ugh. So awful. Sooooo awful.

 

[thedonduck]

10 feet from the shore? In that water? That...would change my view of things. Still a terrible, terrible situation.

I would find it hard to believe that a 2 y.o. would go 10 feet from the shore, let alone a few steps in, without holding mom's or dad's hand.

10 feet just seems too far- the depth would have to be much too deep for a 2 year old.

It's being reported he was 10 ft from shore. You have to remember how shallow the water is in the lagoon. He may have only been in up to his knee high water 10 ft out, and with it being dark, super easy for an alligator to come up unnoticed that far out.

 

[thedonduck]

Me too. Was the poor little guy released by the alligator, and then just couldn't get back to shore and it was dark no one could see? Ugh. So awful. Sooooo awful.

Most likely he was taken right under water by the alligator to drown. Very common behavior of feeding for alligators since they can't chew. They wait for the prey to die and "soften up" (please excuse my terminology) and then it will eat it.

 

[k5thbeatle]

...Considering they're from Nebraska I doubt they had any idea of alligators. ...

Yeah because everyone knows people from Nebraska have no knowledge of absolutely anything of the outside world!

(Probably the dumbest comment on the entire thread!)

My prayers go out to the family and the little boy involved in this accident.

 

[OhMari]

weeping.....

Silent weeping, if it is any consolation, the parents can hug and kiss him, goodbye.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

Understood. But for those folks, I'd pose the question why would Disney prohibit swimming but NOT wading? I can't think of an instance where entering the water for wading purposes would be ok, but not swimming purposes.

When the danger is drowning and the property owner doesn't want to be sued for not providing a lifeguard. The dangerous watercraft in the area. Possibly pollution/bacteria/etc., if you think that the danger is primarily from inhaling or swallowing the water.

I don't know if Disney was negligent because this was such a rare tragedy, but I certainly don't think the parents were at fault. It's designed to look like a beach and family events are held there at night. It would have taken much more than a typical level of research to understand that alligators were a risk. I extensively research vacations. When I heard that watching the fireworks from one of the resort beaches was a "must-do," I read a lot about the beaches, and never once did I read that alligators were a danger. I have seen large suburban alligators in Florida and I knew that very small alligators have been seen in MK, but I still assumed that Disney resort beaches were free of alligators large enough to take a small human.

Like someone else said, it's human nature to convince ourselves that bad things couldn't happen to us and our loved ones. Unfortunately, we can follow every rule and take every precaution, and still experience tragedy.

 

[Sona99]

Me too. Was the poor little guy released by the alligator, and then just couldn't get back to shore and it was dark no one could see? Ugh. So awful. Sooooo awful.

No, the gator's normal feeding procedure is to drown their captures.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

God, I find it somehow even sadder that in the end, this child just drowned.

Gators typically submerge their pray and then come back to eat it in a couple of days.

 

[wendow]

I did not get the impression the child was playing 10 feet out but that his body was found 10 feet away from the shore and the water depth was about 6 feet there.

 

[brunette8706]

That's not judgmental at all. I feel the same way that person feels. Perhaps i could state my personal thought: There is no way I am walking out of that lake without my child. If the gator is taking them down, then i am going down with them, fighting until my last breath.
I wasn't there, i don't know what they went through and i don't feel any different about them for what they did because they suffered such a horrible loss... but that is what i would have done.

**

Again, I don't think you have any idea what you are talking about! You were not there! You have no idea what this father was doing. While you are criticizing his family now, says a lot! Sheesh!

 

[Lehuaann]

It sounds like the gator just let him go... so heartbreaking.

Makes me wonder if this was territorial aggression?

 

[brunette8706]

I did not get the impression the child was playing 10 feet out but that his body was found 10 feet away from the shore and the water depth was about 6 feet there.

*
The sheriff just said he was found 10-15 yards out.

 

[mking624]

This is just ludicrous. You now posit that some people don't know driving can be dangerous. OK. To quote Disney, ABC's Shark Tank, "for that reason, I'm out".

I've certainly made my simple, practical point clear multiple times. Not much else to say about this tragedy.

So have I.
I showed you some respect. I'd appreciate the same. You said the literally everyone knows the dangers of driving. I pointed out that "literally everyone" was an exaggeration and gave examples. If literally everyone knew, then the statistics on accidents and deaths while driving would be much lower. If literally everyone knew, then there wouldn't need to be driver's education. There wouldn't need to be tests on knowledge of rules of the road. We'd see less tickets being given out. Unless, of course, we are now getting into other point I made: that no matter what the rules and dangers are, people will still disregard them. That's just reality. I'm sorry you find my point ludicrous.

Anyway, emotions are running high with everyone here. We all want someone to blame, someone to be angry at, some way to make sense of all of this. But in the end, it's just a painful tragedy where a family lost their child and can never get him back...in what should be the happiest place.

 

[mjkacmom]

I did not get the impression the child was playing 10 feet out but that his body was found 10 feet away from the shore and the water depth was about 6 feet there.

I just listened to the report, the boy was taken out about 10 feet, where it was 6 feet deep.

 

[thedonduck]

I did not get the impression the child was playing 10 feet out but that his body was found 10 feet away from the shore and the water depth was about 6 feet there.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...T-shore-reptile-struck-lifeguard-reveals.html

I realize that some don't regard DM as a good source but they have been pretty accurate throughout all of this

 

[wendow]

*
The sheriff just said he was found 10-15 yards out.

His body was recovered there but he said the boy was playing at the water's edge.

 

[sweetyk83]

Yeah because everyone knows people from Nebraska have no knowledge of absolutely anything of the outside world!

(Probably the dumbest comment on the entire thread!)

My prayers go out to the family and the little boy involved in this accident.

Aren't you kind? Allow me to clarify.
Since they're from Nebraska I doubt they were aware of alligators in the area.
If you continued to read you would have seen that I stated that if not for this forum I wouldn't have known they were there. That was in direct relation to that previous comment. I'm from Oklahoma.

(You conveniently edited my post in your reply to make me look bad as well.)
Thanks for being hateful though and assuming I was intending to say they were dumb idiots from Nebraska, which is the same thing you did to me just now.

 

[wendow]

I just listened to the report, the boy was taken out about 10 feet, where it was 6 feet deep.

Right, this is where he was recovered but not how far out he was playing .

 

[mousefan73]

Where he was found has nothing to do with what happened (only rocks stay put in water) . It happened end of story.

 

[AJA]

I did not get the impression the child was playing 10 feet out but that his body was found 10 feet away from the shore and the water depth was about 6 feet there.

Yes this is how I read it too. That the alligator took him from the shore line a few feet out to submerge and drown. The the alligator comes back later. They can guard their future meal (oh god in this case that sounds so horrible to type) for days or even a week. I'm sure it was scared off by all the rescue efforts.


So glad at least the parents can say goodbye and know he was found.

I can't imagine the pain.