Child missing following alligator attack

[lawgirl]

This has just broken my heart, as it has millions of others I'm sure. I've got 2 little ones, and our last trip I almost hauled us over to the GF/Poly area to watch fireworks. And I'm usually pretty OCD about them playing in open water like that- I honestly had no idea about gators and we've been going there since the 70's. I was always way more concerned about flesh eating bacteria and other nasties in the water. If there had been a sign that said "No swimming, no wading stay back 10 feet from the water. Active Gators" or something like that, there's no way I'd get even half way close. I have just been a mess all day and night grieving for this family, and I cannot even begin to imagine what they are going through. It could have been us. Lord, grant them mercy.

[faline]

Otherwise this wouldn't be the first we are really talking about an alligator incident at Disney.

Actually, a child was bitten by an alligator in Fort Wilderness. That child survived the attack. He was not in the water but was near the water. The alligator left the water and attacked the child. I remembered reading about the incident but did not remember when it was. He was interviewed by our local news station and it was reported on this morning. The incident happened 30 years ago when this person was 8 years old and he spent a week in the hospital following the attack.

[deedee73]

Actually, a child was bitten by an alligator in Fort Wilderness. That child survived the attack. He was not in the water but was near the water. The alligator left the water and attacked the child. I remembered reading about the incident but did not remember when it was. He was interviewed by our local news station and it was reported on this morning. The incident happened 30 years ago when this person was 8 years old and he spent a week in the hospital following the attack.

Very interesting...funny that when asked at the news conference it was not reported.

[Fusillejerry]

This has constantly been running through my mind since yesterday morning and I can't even imagine what the family is going through. It makes it even sadder when I see so many hateful accusations being thrown at the parents on social media and elsewhere. As a father with 6 year olds and almost a 2 year old, I can easily imagine a scenario where this could happen, even under the closest of supervision. All it takes is one minute of my child defiantly running towards the water. Less judgment and more compassion goes a long way. I pray that the family is able to find some peace and comfort in the difficult days ahead.

[VWL Mom]

Actually, a child was bitten by an alligator in Fort Wilderness. That child survived the attack. He was not in the water but was near the water. The alligator left the water and attacked the child. I remembered reading about the incident but did not remember when it was. He was interviewed by our local news station and it was reported on this morning. The incident happened 30 years ago when this person was 8 years old and he spent a week in the hospital following the attack.

I saw the article yesterday, it was 1986 at FW.

[Tekneek]

This is such a terrible event. Just awful for that family, and to a lesser degree for any others who were nearby or just in the area when such a thing has happened.

However rare, Disney could probably do more to increase awareness about the live animals that guests may encounter. While, for many, "common sense" tells them they should be aware for various things when walking around or near water (especially at night), not everybody has any clue about the native creatures. Even worse, some believe "it is Disney" and nothing dangerous could be there. Being near water (other than a pool, but even then you should still be aware) when you're in an area where reptiles can be dangerously large requires extra awareness. In some ways, this is becoming a bigger problem for newer areas as average temperatures climb. I know alligators are turning up in lakes further north in Georgia all the time.

[Polynesian Dweller]

So sad. So many questions. Seems impossible. Must have been no one around at all. No one to help drag the gator back to the shore? Other witnesses? Deep water? Just literally unbelievable...

Tragic. Condolences to the family.

Gators are several times stronger than us and very fast. They can move up to 11 mph on land and 20 mph in water and a jaw grip strength of 800-1000 psi and the highest recorded being around 3000 psi. These are formidable animals.

The father tried to grab it but would have had no chance of holding on. There are reports of witnesses and a lifeguard running to help. There were others around. That gator was gone before anyone could have helped. As for water depth, reports suggest either on water edge of in shallow water about a foot out. Matters little since these are ambush predators that surge out of the water and go right back.

Unfortunately quite possible but incredibly rare. I can't imagine the anguish of this family and hope some day they can recover from this. But it will be hard and hope they can find the solace and comfort they will need.

[waymickey]

The fact is no one is really at fault here. Disney watches the water and does very much to keep it safe, the parents were right there, and the gator was doing what gators do.
Yes Disney should post more signs alerting people to the fact that wildlife lives in the water as well as dangerous organisms. They should also move the movies off the beaches. It is heart breaking and so very sad.

[ThanxForNoticin]

This incident is just so incredibly sad and painful for us as observers. I cannot even imagine what the family is going through.

But I have a question for some of you - when you visit Disney, do you not have a more relaxed feeling while there - almost an extra sense of security while visiting a place like that?? I know we do, and I know others who agree with me. I'm not sure what it is, but it's a place where we just feel safer and relaxed. Sadly, that might not be a good thing. I could see my family enjoying a Disney movie by the pool on a beautiful hot spring evening, and then maybe sticking our toes in the pool water - or the lake. Everything would be so calm and peaceful, and seem safe.

This situation could've included many of us at one point or another. And I've personally seen alligators on Disney property 3 times over the many years we've visited - twice in the lake between the Poly and GF, and once at the MK. But I trusted Disney controls to make sure we were safe from such creatures - to capture and move the alligators from guest areas. I believed in those controls. But those controls failed here, and failed very badly. The probability of such an attack was extremely small, but the chances were not zero.

I expect new controls to be put in place very soon - and if that means all these beaches are blocked or fenced or covered with brush to keep people away from the lakes, then so be it. Something like this can never happen again at Disney. Life is too precious.

[minnie04]

This is a tragic horrible event Praying for this young family..
Someone posted this on my FB page and I thought it really hit the nail on the head of how we handle things these days. It is very long,but worth reading every word...

NOT THAT ANYONE ON HERE IS DOING THAT.. It just makes you think that's all..

"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 **** way and at every **** 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.

Listen to me very clearly perfect parents, VERY CLEARLY.

I’VE HAD ENOUGH.

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.

That is what you say. THAT. And just THAT.

Stop the blaming.

Stop the shaming.

In their darkest hours, can we please just LOVE other parents. Please?"

[Goofy4TheWorld]

This is a tragic horrible event Praying for this young family..
Someone posted this on my FB page and I thought it really hit the nail on the head of how we handle things these days. It is very long,but worth reading every word...

NOT THAT ANYONE ON HERE IS DOING THAT.. It just makes you think that's all..

.......

In life, not everyone should sit back and do nothing more than love one another. Tragedy occurs all the time, and while plenty of tragedies are just random flukes of bad luck, most tragedies can make us all see something we are doing that perhaps we can do better. There is nothing going to be learned from a tragedy if questions aren't asked, sometimes tough questions, and often times the answers can make us all better parents/teachers/friends/etc.

Would I personally ask these parents these questions, nope, but that doesn't mean that people who are discussing these items are cold or uncaring. The more removed you are from a situation the more analytical, and less emotional, you can be. While I feel no desire to read these parents the Riot Act, there are tough questions that they should be asked, and if the Orange County Sherriff's Office didn't ask them we would all call them negligent in their job. People typing out how they feel, based on their life's experiences and understanding of the facts, is what people do on message boards, on social media, on the front porch, and around the water cooler.

Stories of kidnappings made parents more vigilant, stories of babies stuck in wells made parents more aware of these real dangers in rural America, stories of how parents didn't buckle their kids' car seats in correctly made car seat designs better in response, and stories of what went wrong here can serve to make kids safer in the future.

[thejens]

This is beyond heartbreaking. It is hard to stop thinking about that poor family.

I do believe that WDW has a special responsibility to make the dangers more clearly known. I am especially surprised to learn that a serious attack occurred in the 80s and still little action seems to have been taken. I am not from Florida and had no idea that child-eating alligators could emerge from the tranquil lakes at a Walt Disney World resort! I have been at water's edge with my children at many of the resorts because they are called "beaches" and they are lovely and beckoning and part of a resort. I assumed the no-swimming signs were related to bacteria in the water. With all the boats and jet skis it never would occur to me that the lakes posed any danger. In retrospect, this is naive of me, but in the happiest place on earth one would almost expect alligators to sing a cheery song, help clean the house and perhaps sew me a ball gown- not devour my toddler!! I can only pray that Disney will do more to protect children and that the public embraces this family with love.

[BugeyedMuggy]

My prayers are with the family. I also have been going to disney for decades and due to fear of bacteria have never felt the need to go in the water. That said have also never seen or imagined there was a fear of alligator attack. Being from the northeast I am not subjected to alligators on a daily basis. I guess I can like this to people driving in the snow in the winter. You know what you deal with every day. I do wish Disney would put up signs for those of us who do not experience this every day. I realize this is isolited but it is a life. Up north we warn people of "bridges freeze before pavement". Its just a warning for people not always driving in our area or just a reminder. I know this but not everyone does. This was such a sad and very unimaginable tragedy. I also hope Disney will investigate weather the construction they are doing at the Poly and Wilderness in the waters with the bungalows and lake houses have not affected the ecosystem. I don't want to put blame only try to find ways to avoid. As I said ONE life is too many.

[CleveSJM]

Thanks PD. My post was before I heard of other witnesses. So fast, so tragic. Must have been closer to 7-8 foot. A 5 foot gator is about 160 pounds. As you said, gator was gone before anyone could help.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

I just read on NBC News that new signs and new fences are going up now.

[CAS]

I just read on NBC News that new signs and new fences are going up now.

Local10 has pics. The fence is under construction as we type.

[Tekneek]

I don't know if the fencing is truly necessary, but seems a reasonable mitigation and they are doing something better than some ugly chain link monstrosity. Education, warnings, and overall awareness programs regarding the local wildlife are woefully late. That stuff is simple. A pamphlet in the things they give you at check-in really could have been there from day one and having a castmember review it with an adult member of the party at that time (rather than hoping the guest gets around to reading it) would have been an inexpensive way to get it out there.

As far as I am concerned, any body of water in Florida might have a gator in it. My assumption has always been that there might be one and I'd better be on the lookout.

The press reports from castmembers that they were aware of guests staying in the bungalows and feeding the gators are highly disturbing. That they reported this to management and apparently nothing was done is so disappointing. I'm not a lawyer, but I would be frightened of the potential legal consequences.

[Altair]

There is a video on line of an 8 foot Alligator climbing a chain link fence with ease.

[DizneyRox]

I don't know if the fencing is truly necessary, but seems a reasonable mitigation and they are doing something better than some ugly chain link monstrosity. Education, warnings, and overall awareness programs regarding the local wildlife are woefully late. That stuff is simple. A pamphlet in the things they give you at check-in really could have been there from day one and having a castmember review it with an adult member of the party at that time (rather than hoping the guest gets around to reading it) would have been an inexpensive way to get it out there.

As far as I am concerned, any body of water in Florida might have a gator in it. My assumption has always been that there might be one and I'd better be on the lookout.

The press reports from castmembers that they were aware of guests staying in the bungalows and feeding the gators are highly disturbing. That they reported this to management and apparently nothing was done is so disappointing. I'm not a lawyer, but I would be frightened of the potential legal consequences.

They used to show a video on the TVs at AKL about things you can and can't do, but it was taken away. Might be a good thing to bring back and have something similar on the video loop when you turn on the TV. The same loop should play at the bus stops, etc.

I've had bus drivers point out gators on the way to places (the retention ponds at many of the resorts are great habitats for them) . They are well aware that they are around.

Have they pulled the gators from Living with the Land?

[DizneyFreak2002]

There is a video on line of an 8 foot Alligator climbing a chain link fence with ease.

All I am going to add to this thread is, google Ninja Gator...

All that needs to be said has been said... It's horrible, sad... Parents will never be mentally the same...