Sad News: Three-year-old drowns at Art of Animation Pool

[AndyS2992]

How awful Thoughts are with the parents.

On a related note..
For those who say it is the parents/lifeguards and whoever else's fault it is for not watching the child, I challenge you to spot the drowning child in this video:


I could not be a lifeguard and I have so much respect for lifeguards for the work they do saving lives and hope those on duty at the time (if any) don't take it too hard on themselves and take the opportunity to improve from this tragic event.

 

[bethymouse]

@Incomudro I have twin boys age 11 now. I do not let them out of my sight! My husband says I am too overprotective!

 

[bethymouse]

No real details. No blame. Simple. Very sad any time you hear of a child being hurt and/or dying.

 

[Otamin]

Very sad news.

R.I.P.

 

[flynnibus]

Come on people... a 3yr old didn't use their magicband to tap in and OPEN THE GATE... sheez. The gate door is huge

 

[BuddyThomas]

Lose track of their kids???
Are you kidding me?

When I saw that this thread of horrible news was 9 pages long, I said to myself.that it must have descended into madness at some point, and sure enough, here, on page three, is the post where things began their downward spiral. Arrrgggghhhhh.

 

[Baldy]

I hope that Disney or the lifeguards don't take the blame for this. They have done a great job keeping the pools safe for guests. However, unless this family going to try to blame this tragedy on Disney, I still think they deserve our deepest sympathies. We don't know what was going on when the child got separated. The vast majority of parents raise their children as best as they can. There is no reason to believe that these parents were that small percentage that don't care where their kids are or what they are up to. I am not making any assumptions or saying that its okay, but even if they made a bad decision or had a thoughtless moment, they will be living with that for the rest of their lives.
Can you imagine going the rest of your life knowing that you had caused the death of your own child?

 

[JR864]

I've seen trolling in my day, but all of us should pause a moment and consider what kind of sociopath spends their afternoon trying to repeatedly and purposefully enflame others that they supposedly share interests with. Imagine if one of these smugly vile people were your coworker or neighbor. The best remedy is to automatically ignore them, not just on this thread. I'm just sorry i hadn't done so previously.

 

[Bluewaves]

I usually don't jump in on these but I just had to after some of the responses I've seen

Sometimes accidents happen, everything can be handled perfectly and accidents still happen.

Someone can drown in 1" in water, 1", as long as its enough to cover their mouth and nose they can drown.

You can have 100 lifeguards and still miss someone drowning, its tragic and its sad.

But accidents can still happen, we can have a discussion about is the pool safe and are there enough guards and are they in the right place etc...

But stop blaming people for a tragic accident

 

[WannaBWendy]

How awful Thoughts are with the parents.

On a related note..
For those who say it is the parents/lifeguards and whoever else's fault it is for not watching the child, I challenge you to spot the drowning child in this video:


I could not be a lifeguard and I have so much respect for lifeguards for the work they do saving lives and hope those on duty at the time (if any) don't take it too hard on themselves and take the opportunity to improve from this tragic event.

Wow! I had to run it back twice before I could see what made her jump in the water!

 

[popcenturylover]

I cannot even fathom interjecting an opinion on this thread as I've been called a helicopter parent on another thread so, I just want to express sorrow to all involved.

 

[Mummymouse]

I cannot think of anything more devastating than the loss of your child, I am so sad for those parents.

 

[Matt_Black]

It is a tragic accident.

And, it's been said, but remember, we have presumption of innocence in this country, and until further details are released, we should apply that presumption to both the parents and the Art of Animation staff.

 

[Brian]

How awful Thoughts are with the parents.

On a related note..
For those who say it is the parents/lifeguards and whoever else's fault it is for not watching the child, I challenge you to spot the drowning child in this video:


I could not be a lifeguard and I have so much respect for lifeguards for the work they do saving lives and hope those on duty at the time (if any) don't take it too hard on themselves and take the opportunity to improve from this tragic event.

As a certified lifeguard, I too sympathize with this. Trying to keep your eyes on your assigned zone while so much commotion is going on around you is very tough. Not to mention the distractions of people diving in, playing "chicken" etc. All the while, a small child can be drowning and you may not see them until it's too late. Just look at that video, it's very easy to miss that.

As far as guilt goes, I cannot imagine the guilt and anguish these lifeguards are suffering. After every rescue I had made, I felt an incredible amount of guilt, and it's hard to tell why. After talking about it with my co-workers, they all reported the same sensation. We chalk it up to not getting there sooner. Even though in all these cases, the swimmers were fine, you can't help but think you could've been there sooner or done better. Taking it a step further and realizing you're too late must be absolutely devastating.

Regarding the training WDW and other major tourist destination's lifeguards go through, they are rigorously trained and tested throughout their employment. Ellis & Associates is their provider of training and testing, and they regularly do drills with all lifeguards. For example, it can be a perfectly average day and all of the sudden, you'll see a child at the bottom of the pool. You have no idea how long it's been there, but you spring into action. Turns out, it's folks from Ellis & Associates testing you; they threw a mannequin in, and are evaluating your response. To make a long story short, the Disney lifeguards are very highly trained and evaluated regularly. But it just goes to show that despite constant training and supervision, tragedies like this can happen.

PS: I did see the drowning child in the video, but not until about the time the lifeguard on duty did. Like you said, it can be extremely challenging.

 

[Incomudro]

I've seen trolling in my day, but all of us should pause a moment and consider what kind of sociopath spends their afternoon trying to repeatedly and purposefully enflame others that they supposedly share interests with. Imagine if one of these smugly vile people were your coworker or neighbor. The best remedy is to automatically ignore them, not just on this thread. I'm just sorry i hadn't done so previously.

I'm not a sociopath.
I'm a parent.
And only since you made the accusation, I'm one of the nicest neighbors and coworkers you'd ever meet.
Tragedies like these are where people learn what can happen.
Kids can die around pools in the blink of an eye.
We are their only protection.

 

[DisneyJayL]

Thoughts and prayers are with the family. I don't know what I'd do if my child dies. I can't say someone is at fault. I need to use this situation though to help in my safety of my children. With 5 kids it is difficult to keep an eye on them all, and i just had an incident last weekend that showed me that. I have taught them what to do in these situations and I see that it has worked.

Again, I can't imagine how the parents/family feels right now. Prayers are with them.

 

[andy773]

Is it that hard to imagine a scenario where this could have happened without the parents being negligent?

1. Mom is taking 3-year old and 6-year old to the pool. The 6-year old is hungry so they stop to get a snack. In the excitement to get to the pool, the 6-year old wolfs the food down and starts choking. Mom yells for help and starts the Heimlich Maneuver. Off goes the 3-year old.

2. Grandma and Grandpa are taking the 3-year old to the pool. As they are about to go in, Grandpa suffers a stroke, heart attack, seizure, whatever. He falls and hits his head. Grandma yells for help and kneels down to help Grandpa. Off goes the 3-year old.

3. Dad is taking 3-year old and 6-year old to the pool. As they are about to go in the gate, a bunch of teenagers come running out, chasing each other, and the 6-year old gets knocked over. Dad stops to pick up the 6-year old. Off goes the 3-year old.

Until we know what happened, any of these scenarios are just as likely as the one where the parents were incompetent or negligent.

The hyper-vigilant commenters' lack of compassion, empathy and humanity take them out of the running for "Parent of the Year."

 

[aw14]

I am also a parent to a 12 year old, and it is a fine line to walk to give them their freedom and let them grow up, and at the same time still "keep an eye".

As a kid, I was given a lot of freedom and allowed to fall, get hurt etc..

However, for the purposes of this thread, none of that matters. It is sad how this thread diverted into an odd abyss.

Regardless of anything, it is a horrible loss, and I cannot imagine the pain those parents are going through. I would not want to imagine.

 

[Incomudro]

Is it that hard to imagine a scenario where this could have happened without the parents being negligent?

1. Mom is taking 3-year old and 6-year old to the pool. The 6-year old is hungry so they stop to get a snack. In the excitement to get to the pool, the 6-year old wolfs the food down and starts choking. Mom yells for help and starts the Heimlich Maneuver. Off goes the 3-year old.

2. Grandma and Grandpa are taking the 3-year old to the pool. As they are about to go in, Grandpa suffers a stroke, heart attack, seizure, whatever. He falls and hits his head. Grandma yells for help and kneels down to help Grandpa. Off goes the 3-year old.

3. Dad is taking 3-year old and 6-year old to the pool. As they are about to go in the gate, a bunch of teenagers come running out, chasing each other, and the 6-year old gets knocked over. Dad stops to pick up the 6-year old. Off goes the 3-year old.

Until we know what happened, any of these scenarios are just as likely as the one where the parents were incompetent or negligent.

The hyper-vigilant commenters' lack of compassion, empathy and humanity take them out of the running for "Parent of the Year."

I'll guarantee you that neither 1, 2, or 3 of your scenarios happened.
Yes, I'm pessimistic in my view sometimes.
I'll tell you something, when this story was first posted as a 7 year old - I withheld judgment.
That's a big difference in age and development.
A three year old is a baby.

 

[Eeyore]

So sad and entirely too common in the state of Florida especially. I believe that parents of infants and toddlers should strongly consider infant rescue swimming lessons to try to prevent these types of tragedies.
http://www.today.com/parents/water-babies-would-you-let-your-tot-try-survival-swimming-1D79854117
I don't know that there's any real reason to keep this thread going. I'm so heartbroken for all involved in this horrible accident.