So sad... a 3yo boy from NY died at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki

[grlpwrd]

Initial story:
http://starbulletin.com/2006/01/02/news/story02.html

Update:
http://starbulletin.com/2006/01/03/news/story01.html

I usually don't post about such things, but it's tragic. I was just in Baltimore this past week and my 2.5yo son managed to unlock my dh's apartment door. I was watching him like a hawk anyway, but tragedies like the one at HHV make me want to remind everyone to be careful, especially with little one's.

Prayers to the family...

 

[kdibattista]

How sad

 

[dragonfly75]

thats horrible!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Very, very tragic. You know I was at the Dallas Cowboys game and from where we sat an adult could fall to their death. I am glad they are builing a new stadium and I hope it is better.

I wonder why railings are not safer!!!??? It is stupid.

 

[transparant]

How unbelievably tragic. My prayers are with the whole family.

 

[gr8tpanther]

I can't even BEGIN to imagine what this family is going through! He was a cute little boy! Just goes to show that not all vacations have happy endings.

 

[skiwee1]

How horrible and sad. Unfortunately by the second article's tone is seems that the boy's parents are setting the hotel up for a lawsuit. The father said he is angry that the hotel hasn't reassured him that no one else will fall through the balcony rails. Doesn't anyone check to make sure their child will not squeeze through rails? I know I do because DD is thin. Even if she is big enough not to I still NEVER let her play out on a balcony unattended. The parents are now paying for that stupid mistake.

 

[Holly]

I feel so bad for that child.

We were at AKL last month and the first thing my 2 year old did was push the little table to the railing and try to climb up on it. That balcony door was kept locked unless my husband or I were out there.

I may sound insensitive to the parents, but why in the world was a toddler playing alone on a balcony?

Also, there are laws and standards that all hotels must follow, so I'm willing to bet that the Hilton was up to code re: the space between the balcony rails.

 

[Jeafl]

We stayed at that same hotel last June, and had a room on the 20th floor with a balcony. I don't remember the railings being any further apart than any other hotel. I think it is just a horrible, tragic accident that could have been avoided if the kids had been supervised. I'm sure the parents will never forgive themselves, I feel truly sorry for the whole family.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

This is horrible and tragic. But preventable.

I think the parents are at fault. WHY would someone let children these ages play on a balcony unattended? They will sue and probably make a bundle, but it won't bring their child back.

 

[laura001]

very tragic....hopefully something good comes out of this somehow

 

[Regina]

Very, very sad, but I share the same thoughts as some others. My three are that close in age. I would never have allowed them to play on a balcony unsupervised. My big concern would have been climbing on the furniture to "see" below.

We traveled a lot. Whenever we had a balcony, either me or DH were right by their side when they wanted to be out on it.

 

[DreaminDisney]

How awful.

 

[momof2inPA]

I would never let my kids play on a balcony, but six inch railing gaps are ridiculous. That can't be up to code.

 

[Patty3]

This is horrible and tragic. But preventable.

I think the parents are at fault. WHY would someone let children these ages play on a balcony unattended? They will sue and probably make a bundle, but it won't bring their child back.

I agree with everything you said.

 

[noseybuddy]

What an adorable little boy. This is so sad. I have to agree with the op's as that the parents should have never let kids of that age unattended on a balcony. Maybe the rails weren't up to code and should have been closer together, but they must know that they made a big mistake leaving the boy unattended. I can't imagine what they are feeling right now.

 

[DawnCt1]

This is horrible and tragic. But preventable.

I think the parents are at fault. WHY would someone let children these ages play on a balcony unattended? They will sue and probably make a bundle, but it won't bring their child back.

You took the words right out of my keyboard. I don't even like older kids playing on such a high balcony. I guess the cut off age is, if they still "play" they are too young to be out there. I can remember seeing little kids running around at the top of Yosemite where the only thing between the top and the bottom was a mile of air. I don't get it. Loving parents checking their brains at the airport and then leaving on vacation.

 

[luvflorida]

What an awful tragedy.

My family and I stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in the Ali'i Tower just last week. In fact, I posted a few photos of our lanai and you can see the railing quite well. The bars do seem a bit far apart, but there is also a large section of cement all along the bottom of the railing that encloses that gap and would keep anything from falling out, (and of course a kid could climb up on the cement). I don't know if the upper balconies also have that section of cement at the bottom of the railing.

I know the newspaper article says there was no furniture on the family's eighth floor balcony, but some of our other family members had a room on the tenth floor and I remember seeing a couple of chairs and a table on their balcony.

I also remember very vividly standing outside on our lanai and looking up at one of the other taller towers at the HHV and looking at the balconies and thinking what would keep a child from falling off one of them. The answer, of course, is PARENTAL SUPERVISION.

This little boy's death is a horrible tragedy and I'm sure the parents will never forgive themselves for allowing the kids to play on the balcony. In my opinion, it was lack of parental supervision that caused this horrible accident.

Why in the world would ANYONE let three little kids play unsupervised on an eighth floor balcony?

 

[ChristmasElf]

I think another interesting point is the Father mentioned the little boy had just climbed Diamond Head "of his own esteem" I believe are the words the father used.
I don't know if any of you have done this, but we have and there are long sections of the path up Diamond Head that are very narrow and the railings are very strange. They offer NO protection whatsoever on that climb. Many parts of the pathway have no railing at all and the fall is much higher than 8 stories at that point.
My point being that if the parnet would let a 3 year old climb up Diamond Head with no railings in parts, and hap hazard railings in other sections, they will certainly let them play on a lanaii with no supervision.

Very sad vacation for that family.

 

[luvflorida]

I don't know if any of you have done this, but we have and there are long sections of the path up Diamond Head that are very narrow and the railings are very strange. They offer NO protection whatsoever on that climb. Many parts of the pathway have no railing at all and the fall is much higher than 8 stories at that point.

Yes, I have and I was thinking the same thing.