Disney gator attack: 2-year-old boy found dead

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zamyrabyrd said:
What were they all doing on the shores of a 'gator lake?
I really feel for the family and the boy but this could have been prevented.
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I saw this on facebook this morning and I think it’s appropriate.

facebook.com/4BoysMother/?fref=nf&pnref=story

Parents, I beg of you, stop blaming and shaming other parents.

35 years ago, a mom shopping in a Sears department store went to go look at lamps, and left her six year old with another group of boys, who were all trying out the new Atari game at a kiosk. That boy’s name was Adam Walsh.

30 years ago, an 18 month old toddler playing in her aunt’s backyard fell into a well. Rescuers worked nonstop for 58 hours, finally freeing “Baby Jessica” from the well.

In both cases a tragedy happened, an unforeseen tragic accident took place which left Adam dead, and a toddler fighting for her life deep underground. But they also has something else in common; they had an entire country of moms and dads supporting the grieving parents.

Let me repeat that, EVERYONE SUPPORTED THE RESCUE EFFORTS WITHOUT BLAME. NO BLAME. None. ZERO.

No questions asked, not one single “Where were the parents?” comment. Just a country of other moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas watching in horror as a set of parents, one of their own, went through the unthinkable. Adam was our son. Jessica was our baby daughter.

THOSE PARENTS WERE US.

Flash forward to 2016, the year of THE PERFECT PARENT.

Yesterday, a two year old boy, splashing in the magical lakefront waters of a Disney Resort, succumbed to the wilds of mother nature. An aggressive alligator scooped him out of the water, right under the watch of his father, who attempted to fight with the alligator to free his baby son. Pure horror. Sheer Terror. Parents who actually had to watch their baby be taken from them, as if they were in some African nature documentary.

A tragic and unforeseeable accident. An accident.

I weep for this mother and father. I am sick with anguish for the pain, agony, misery, and regret pulsating through their viens this very second. And I bet you are too.

But not everyone is.

You see, we now live in a time where accidents are not allowed happen. You heard me. Accidents, of any form, in any way, and at any time, well, they just don’t happen anymore.

Why? Because BLAME and SHAME.

Because we have become a nation of BLAMERS and SHAMERS.

And how are accidents allowed to happen if we can’t blame someone? Surly, they can’t, right? I mean, random acts of nature, unpreventable tragedies, and fateful life changing events that take place in a matter of nanoseconds cannot possibly take place if everyone is being a responsible parent, right? NOPE.

They can’t, because this country and its population of perfect pitchfork carrying mothers and fathers sitting behind keyboards needs to accuse. They NEED TO BLAME, to disparage, to criticize in every damn way and at every damn corner, the parenting of another.

And when do they really get to lick their blaming chops? When a tragic accident happens. That’s when the pouncing is at its freshest, when raw emotion and ignorance collide, and they dig their word claws in, and take hold of whatever grace these grieving mothers and fathers have left in their souls.

And then they tear it out.

I’ve had enough of scrolling through comment threads and seeing over and over again questions like “Where were the parents?” and thoughts like, “This is what happens when you don’t watch your kids.”

I have simply HAD ENOUGH.

I have one question for the blaming and shaming moms and dads. You know the ones who immediately blame the parents, the ones who go on the internet and type comments like, “This is nothing but neglect by the parents,” and “They should have known better. Who was watching that little boy?” and my favorite, “I would never let that happen to my kid.”

Here is my question,

Have you ever been to a child’s funeral before?

I have.

The funeral of a child is an event in life that you never, ever want to experience.

Now let me ask you another question.

In the coming week these parents will fly back to their home in Nebraska without one of their children. They will leave a vacation resort, packing up his Buzz Lightyear pajamas and his favorite blanket, and they will make an excruciatingly difficult journey home. A journey that they never in a million years thought they would be making.

They will meet with a funeral director, pick out a tiny casket, a tiny burial suit, and surrounded by family, they will bury their baby boy.

And they will suffer every single day for the rest of their life.

At the funeral for this two year boy who died in front of his parents, can you do me a favor? Can you walk up to the mother and say the words that you just typed out last week? Can you? Can you greet her, hug her, shake the father’s hand and then say, “ Who was watching that little boy? You should have known better. I would never let that happen to MY child.”

Can you do that for me? I mean, you felt those words so deeply in your heart and soul that you typed them for a million people to read. Certainly you can say it straight to the faces of the people you meant it for, right?

Here, let me help you.

Put away your pitchfork for a moment and try this.

To the mother and father who went for a walk on vacation for the last time with their little boy yesterday, I am deeply sorry that you had to experience the worst kind of tragedy possible, an accident. I grieve with you. Your baby was my baby. Your son was my son. I have nothing but love for you, love to help you get though the pain yesterday, today, and for what is gonna seem like a thousand tomorrows. I wrap my thoughts and prayers around your aching heart and soul. May the God of this universe in some miraculous way bring peace to you and your family.
 
Ridgerunner said:
I recall a relative living in Florida saying she walked out into her back yard and was suddenly confronted by a large alligator. She called animal control or whatever, and they came and got it. But she nearly walked, inadvertently, into its strike range, or perhaps did and it just didn’t choose to strike.

I understand protecting endangered species. What I fail to understand is preferring them over people. Would hunting them out of populated areas be too great a burden for a society? Long ago they were hunted without limitation and they still survived as a species. What, I wonder, is the reason their presence in populated areas is tolerated?
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People hunt deer more than anything else and it doesn’t keep them out of populated areas. You really can’t go around shooting animals in the burbs. Maybe there are more gators because we’ve scared or hunted off the predators that would normally be their competition? I don’t know if gators are protected or not, but I’m pretty sure Disney resorts are a “no hunting zone” either way.
 
Ridgerunner said:
Not only in the Deep South. Alligators have been seen as far north as St. Louis.
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I’ve never seen or heard of an alligator in St. Louis. (Other than in the zoo) We do have a newer population of armadillos though. They used to be rare and now you pass about a dozen dead ones on the freeway every day. I expect it’s possible that alligators might be a problem in the future, if the trend continues.
 
Apparently, I was wrong about alligators in St. Louis. I looked it up and they’ve found two in the county this summer. To be fair, I was in the hospital with my daughter when it happened so I didn’t hear about it. I’m staying inside from now on.

PS- According to the comments at the end of the news story, the alligators are the fault of the residents of the “bad part of town” where the gators were found, who do not mow their lawns enough. :rolleyes:
 
Allegra said:
I didn’t write it. I just read it this morning and thought it was worth sharing.
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I’m glad you did share it, A very moving story and a wonderful reminder of how we should love one another not blame one another especially in the face of a tragedy resulting in the death of a child. To do so seems absolutely cruel to me.

Mary.
 
There was an article yesterday, that the incidence of injuries and deaths from both sharks and alligators are in the increase.

People just are too comfortable being close to these apex predators.

Too much television.

And the crocs and gators and sharks have lost their fear of humans.

Unfortunately, humans are not actually at the top of the food chain.
 
From everything I’ve read about Florida, any ponds, lakes, streams, lagoons, etc could have an alligator in them, and that INCLUDES urban areas.
 
Allegra said:
Apparently, I was wrong about alligators in St. Louis. I looked it up and they’ve found two in the county this summer. To be fair, I was in the hospital with my daughter when it happened so I didn’t hear about it. I’m staying inside from now on.

PS- According to the comments at the end of the news story, the alligators are the fault of the residents of the “bad part of town” where the gators were found, who do not mow their lawns enough. :rolleyes:
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My understanding is that alligator numbers farther south have caused them to roam to new territories. Just basic population pressure. It’s not entirely new. There were reports of alligators near St. Louis back in the 19th Century, and probably for the same reason.

St. Louis winters, I understand, are too cold for alligators year-round, but that doesn’t keep them from migrating northward during warmer weather.

Another creepy thing, didn’t they find a bull shark in Alton Lake not long ago?
 
Allegra said:
People hunt deer more than anything else and it doesn’t keep them out of populated areas. You really can’t go around shooting animals in the burbs. Maybe there are more gators because we’ve scared or hunted off the predators that would normally be their competition? I don’t know if gators are protected or not, but I’m pretty sure Disney resorts are a “no hunting zone” either way.
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alligators are protected. People don’t eradicate deer from the suburbs because deer are also protected by seasons, bag limits, etc. If it was open season all the time, they wouldn’t be there. Same with alligators.

Where I live, bears and mountain lions were eradicated a long time ago. But now they’re protected, and have proliferated.
 
Ridgerunner said:
alligators are protected. People don’t eradicate deer from the suburbs because deer are also protected by seasons, bag limits, etc. If it was open season all the time, they wouldn’t be there. Same with alligators.

Where I live, bears and mountain lions were eradicated a long time ago. But now they’re protected, and have proliferated.
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Also regarding deer, the suburban areas where their populations have exploded are less likely to be sanctioned hunting areas. To eradicate deer from the suburbs you’d have to allow hunting in populated areas where all the golf courses are. From what I understand they’re not as much of a problem in the rural areas where many people hunt deer for sport.

Alligators seem to be an accepted part of life in Florida, which is why I’m surprised this sort of attack doesn’t happen more often (apparently when it does the victims are usually people swimming in a lake or pond, kind of like a shark attack).

I do feel terribly for the little boy and his parents, though.
 
Ridgerunner said:
alligators are protected. People don’t eradicate deer from the suburbs because deer are also protected by seasons, bag limits, etc. If it was open season all the time, they wouldn’t be there. Same with alligators.

Where I live, bears and mountain lions were eradicated a long time ago. But now they’re protected, and have proliferated.
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Isn’t that a good thing? The bears and mountain lions can kill the deer during the rest of the year, instead of Suzie Soccer Mom’s SUV.
 
Ridgerunner said:
My understanding is that alligator numbers farther south have caused them to roam to new territories. Just basic population pressure. It’s not entirely new. There were reports of alligators near St. Louis back in the 19th Century, and probably for the same reason.

St. Louis winters, I understand, are too cold for alligators year-round, but that doesn’t keep them from migrating northward during warmer weather.

Another creepy thing, didn’t they find a bull shark in Alton Lake not long ago?
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I read that at least one of those gator sightings was believed to be the result of a “pet” gone wrong.
 
Allegra said:
I read that at least one of those gator sightings was believed to be the result of a “pet” gone wrong.
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I read recently that Nile crocodiles have been found living in the Everglades and that these may have been exotic pets at one time (in other words that’s how they ended up in Florida).
 
zamyrabyrd said:
What were they all doing on the shores of a 'gator lake?
I really feel for the family and the boy but this could have been prevented.
Click to expand...
That it the problem with accidents. “What if. " What if I had done this? If only I saw the warning signs? What if? What if?” We all have our “What Ifs”. It is one of the many crosses we all have to carry when someone we loved is killed in an accident. So, what if we just don’t do the blame game?

It was a horrible accident. Period.
 
Florida is home to every kind of swamp creatures - some natural to the geography and some that have been introduced from other lands.

Florida has lots of dangerous natural situations that if one is going to vacation - people need more awareness. Its not an environment to be unprepared.

Snakes and gators are real easy to come across. Sharks, sting rays, jelly fish and sunburn too! Now we can add Zica (sp) mosquitos, don’t forget red ants and ticks.

As usual, the most vulnerable, are young people and pets. Hiking and biking on trails, through the wild, expose the danger of cougars, bears, feral hogs, etc.

All this stuff and more is out there and “out there” is where its more fun! But, it is always “nearby” as well.

Not raining on anyone’s vacation dreams but hoping some more attention will help.
 
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