I have a million things to do right now, but I just have to get this off my chest. I am absolutely sickened and heartbroken for the parents who just lost their child to an alligator attack at a Disney resort. I was in tears last night reading about it, and it's all I have thought about today.
Of course you read horrible stuff happening to children day in and day out, and they are all tragedies and at the heart of it, despite what happened and how it happened, the child suffers an unimaginable injury or death. But for some reason, this story really got me. I think because the child is also 2, like Emily, and because we were just at a Disney resort a few months ago. But I cannot stop thinking about it and my heart is torn up for the parents.
As a parent you fear illnesses, accidents, drowning, car accident, abuse, etc. You try your best to safeguard them against any possible thing you can think of. To this day I won't let my daughter sleep without her ceiling fan on because I read having air circulating while they sleep helps guard against SIDS....she's TWO, she's been out of the SIDS danger zone for well over a year now, but even in the winter I just cannot sleep at night if I don't have her fan on. We keep the house at a good temperature and she is always dressed appropriately, and now she can get up and reach the light switch to turn it off if she were to get too cold, but I cannot bring myself to not turn it on when I put her to bed.
Rationally speaking, I guess this story isn't much different than losing a child to an illness, a car accident, or something else. The result is the same. Heartbroken parents who will never ever get over this, and a child that lost their life. But there is just something about the fact that it was such a freak accident, and the fact that they were supposed to be on a wonderful vacation, having a great time on the beach for family movie night and the unthinkable happens just tears me up. In an instant their child is not only gone, but there was nothing they could do. I know at this point there is no hope, because where on earth could he be if he were somehow still alive....but I keep holding on to the tiniest shred of hope that I will check the news and find that he has been found alive. But I know that won't be the case. I have since read that his body has been recovered, and it is intact. This of course does not bring him back, and it does not alleviate the parents' pain, but thank God they can at least lay their sweet boy to rest, and hopefully be somewhat comforted knowing that he likely drown and that it was hopefully quick and he did not suffer too much.
As a loss parent, I know all too well that you blame yourself for your child's loss. I know there was literally nothing I could have done to save Kayla, and nothing I should have even known to have done. But it's impossible to not feel the guilt, thinking I still should have been able to do something. So surely these parents will always second guess themselves....maybe movie night was a decision they made on a whim, so they'll always blame themselves for going instead of just going to bed, or for being near the water, or not watching him as closely.
But according to everything I read, they were right there with him, the mother was even holding his hand, and the father tried to wrestle with the gator to free his son. Being that I am afraid of most every animal/fish/amphibian on this planet, I would not have had my feet in the water nor let Emily do so. But this was Disney world, they weren't taking a stroll through the Everglades. Whose to even say that is why the gator attacked? Do people honestly think if the child had not been in the water, and had been say 4 feet off shore, that the gator would have left him alone? Maybe he would have, but I don't think it's possible to say it definitely wouldn't have attacked. Gators have legs, they can run very fast. And let's not forget, NOTHING like this has ever happened on Disney property in the 45 years they have been in business. And they might be in business another 100 years and it may never happen again. Yes Florida has alligators, yes you need to be cautious of them, but I don't think anyone was sitting on that beach during family movie, thinking of an escape plan should an alligator attack...or thinking that an alligator could even be in those waters. Who knows how long that gator was stalking that boy. They lie in wait, perfectly still until they strike. It was a freak accident, and likely nothing the parents did or didn't do would have created a different outcome.
During our time in Florida I was even hoping to see one (from a distance of course). As we rode the bus each day from the resort to the parks, I'd watch along the roadside near the woods/swamps, and the night we went out in the boat to watch the fireworks, our tour guide even shined his light on one on the banks, and I was disappointed that I couldn't really see it. While on the Disney train at the Magic Kingdom, I was excited that I was pretty sure I saw the telltale bumps of a gator sticking out of the water, partially submerged. To be clear, this was on the other side of the tracks, from the park as we circled the park on the train. So there was a river or stream, a small berm, the railroad tracks, and then the park. If that was indeed a gator I saw, that was about 20 yards maybe, from the edge of the park. Twenty yards from the edge of the MAGIC KINGDOM. Does anybody walking around the Magic Kingdom think about the fact that there are likely gators on the outskirts, just 20 yards away? Maybe, maybe not, but I sure as hell can guarantee that nobody is worried about being attacked by one while walking around the park.
Had that happened, had the boy been attacked and dragged away while in the park, would anyone be blaming the parents? Like I said, no I likely would not have gotten too close to the waters edge on that beach because I am scared of everything, but if I were sitting 20 feet from the beach, watching a movie with a slew of other people, on a Disney resort, I am certain I would not be thinking about the possibility of a gator coming out of the water and snatching a small child.
We stayed at The Art of Imagination, and our room was quite a walk from the main part of the resort. There was a lot of vegetation around, and not always a lot of people depending on what time it was. There was a lagoon not far from our rooms, maybe a quarter mile, maybe less, I don't know I am not good with estimating distance. But it is very possible that an alligator could have been lurking somewhere near our room. People find them on their doorsteps and in their pools, so why couldn't one be hanging around behind a bush, a stone's throw away from our room? Hell, I would venture to guess it isn't even impossible for one to show up in the resort's swimming pool. It's probably not likely since I would assume the gates are locked at night, and workers are cleaning around the pool, testing the water, etc before guests are allowed in each morning. But things slip through cracks, people make mistakes, gates get left open. The pool near our room was pretty big, but it wasn't even the biggest pool there. I think it is possible for a gator to be at the bottom of one end, and go unnoticed by a worker at the other end.
Despite the fact that I am afraid of everything, was a gator being in the pool something I worried about when I took my daughter swimming? No, not at all. It wasn't even a thought in my head. At someone's home pool in Florida? Yeah, I would probably think about it. When I first met my husband, I was planning on eventually moving to Florida with him because he had a job lined up to build gator cages around peoples' pools. But a pool at a Disney World Resort? Nope, not at all. This family wasn't near a swamp, they weren't vacationing in the Everglades. They were enjoying an evening as a family, watching a movie and their baby was ripped away from them by a dangerous, wild animal on a Disney Resort. It makes me sick that anyone can even begin to blame the parents.
Letting your child play in traffic? Yes, bad parent. Leaving your two year old home alone? Yes, bad parent. Not putting your child in a car seat while driving? Yes, bad parent. Letting your child walk in the water of a man-made lagoon on a Disney resort? No, not a bad parent. Not even a little bit. There is no way they could have foreseen this, or even imagined this would happen in their wildest dreams. It was a freak accident, and it could have happened had the child been completely out of the water, four feet off short, or even walking down the lit path of the resort somewhat near the lagoon. These parents are experiencing the worst pain of the entire lives, and these assholes judging them, and acting like it was deserved because they decided they weren't watching their kid well enough are heartless. Would they say this to a family member, or even a neighbor? Would they say this to an acquaintance....sorry your kid died, I'm heartbroken for you, but you really shouldn't have been in the water?
Saying this will not bring the kid back, nor will it save anyone else because this was such a remote, freak thing it will likely never even happen again. I can only hope and pray that the child's death was quick and he didn't suffer too much. As for the parents, I cannot say I hope they find comfort or peace, because they won't. It's impossible. They will mourn their sweet boy for the rest of their lives, and they will re-live this nightmare every single day. I honest to God have no idea how they will go on, or even breathe again. Losing a child is the most horrible thing that can happen to someone, but seeing it happen, seeing this monster rip your baby from you, knowing your child's last moments on earth were filled with fear and pain....my heart hurts for them, and I am so angry for them. I don't know them, before yesterday I did not know this family existed. But today I wish I could somehow take away their pain, or comfort them in some way. I can only hope that they can feel some of the love and support from complete strangers all over the world, and know that their pain is our pain, and that we are grieving with them, and thinking of them and their beautiful baby boy and their daughter.
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