I really wanted to stay out of this whole thing. I mean, it didn’t happen to me or my family so it’s not my business. (Which doesn’t mean I don’t care. I am absolutely heartbroken for this family.) But social media makes pretty much even a whispered suggestion the whole world’s business so it is difficult to stay out of it. And when I say I wanted to stay out of it I mean I didn’t want to add my voice to the millions of voices chiming in with their opinions. A little boy died last week, in of all places, Walt Disney World and it is a horrible, devastating tragedy. As a society we need to respect the family’s need to grieve, in private while supporting them with prayers and condolences. Maybe some home cooked meals and donations made to help the family bury their child. But my opinion on what happened? My neighbor’s opinion on what they think the parents did wrong? Your thoughts on what they might do next? The busybodies of the Internet’s opinion on people’s character in general? That should all be kept quiet, now and forever. It’s not helping one single bit.
Who are we to decide what happened that night was an act of carelessness versus a tragic accident? What higher power deemed the opinion of every Tom, Dick and Harry to be the right one? I can’t scroll through Facebook without being assaulted with opinions and outright accusations against this family. My God people, they were on vacation! With their little children. They didn’t want this to happen! We need to leave them alone.
The blame game and finger pointing started right away. Little Lane had not even been found before people demanded that we not blame the poor alligator. It’s not his fault that humans took over his territory, after all. And hey, those parents let their child put his feet in the waters edge of a beach! A beach that had “no swimming” signs posted. What were they thinking?! Finger pointing at it’s finest.
The ones that are really driving me nuts are those who vehemently state they would never let their kid put his toes in the water! My God, it’s a Florida beach! Florida has alligators so why would you ever think it was safe?
Because.
Because it’s Disney World. Because they were on vacation. Because the family was from out of state. Because the beach of their resort, the Grand Floridian, was groomed just for them, guests of that resort, inviting them to relax, with no cares at all. Because the signs said “no swimming” not “beware of alligators.” Because it is natural to want to dip your toes into an inviting lake when it is hot outside. Because no one would anticipate that monsters lurk just feet away from your vacation paradise.
Because.
Because most people don’t go on vacation thinking the worst case scenario will happen and even if they do, I doubt very much that scenario involves their baby being drowned by a freaking alligator.
My niece and daughter on the same beach, same time of night. I am grateful it was too cold for dipping toes in the water’s edge that night..
I have been to Disney World a number of times. I have walked that very same beach, as well as a couple of others on Disney property. (first photo above) I am from a different country. I have children who like to play in the shore, as do I. I have ridden in boats through that same water and have read the “no swimming” signs. I have stayed in a resort where our room faced the riverbank. I have let the magic of Disney and the joy of being on vacation sweep me off of my feet. But I have never, not even for one little minute, feared for my life or my family’s lives because there are alligators in Florida.
So internet peeps, please do me a little favour? Leave this family alone. Let them grieve for their sweet little boy. Let them try to get on with their lives. Don’t speculate what they will do next. Just let them mourn the horrific loss of their baby son. And please, just shut the heck up. If the shoe were on the other foot is that not something you would ask for?
Rest easy little Lane. God be with your family. ♥
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FT&PD
Suz
Yes! Yes! Yes! Well written Suzanne, my thoughts exactly!
A wonderful post Suzanne, my sentiments too. The family has enough horrific memories to deal without everyone pointing their fingers at them. Let them grieve in peace.
Yes. Well stated and I agree completely.
Well said Suzanne! May the family find peace and comfort from other family and friends.
I agree 100%. My heart breaks for the family. 🙁
Agree, that family was doing what EVERYONE would of done…
but I blame Disney for not protecting this and every family from alligators. The Grand Floridian cost about $500 a night. Disney I mean everyone knows how expensive it is. They were suppose to make sure things like this NEVER happen. PERIOD. They have the money to hire and have constant attention to this. Handlers, wildlife people, gates, traps, guns, nets, the list can go on..
The thing about living is that accidents happen, and sometimes those accidents have a horrible result. My heart aches for this family and the “what ifs” and guilt that they will carry around. But it was an accident…
Perfectly said!!! This family is suffering horribly, where’s the kindness, they have enough hate as I am sure they blame themselves enough already. All paretns do. It’s too bad social media cannot be used as support instead of hurt 🙁
exactly……that poor dad has to live with those images in his head forever. I am sad for him.
Those are my thoughts exactly,accidents happen no one is to blame.Blessing to the family!
Such a tragic accident. I completely agree with everything you said.
Without making excuses for people, I think a lot of parents take the “that would never happen to me” stance because they WANT to believe it would never happen to them. They WANT to believe their child is safe. They WANT to think that they are vigilant and nothing like that could happen under their watch. It’s a defence mechanism. Because to imagine the opposite is unbearable.
Heart-broken for this family. The truth is it could have happened to anyone.
I think you’re absolutely right. Sometimes things are just tragic and couldn’t be expected. It’s very sad. In hind sight we can think of things like a sign that actually mentions alligators, and all we can do is move forward trying to do better and hoping it will help. It is a tragedy and my heart aches for the family.
Totally agree with you, my first thought when I heard this was it could have been a member of my family!
I agree with you and you wrote about it beautifully. Well done! The media is a savage beast.
I totally agree with you, I feel so bad for the family, they lost their little boy and it was making me sick how many people were lashing out at them, my god what is wrong with people nowadays!! I know if I was there I too would have let my kids walk along with their toes in the water and it could have happened to anyone!!
Yes! Completely agree! Whether it be naivety or not but I did not realize “anything bigger than a puddle can have a gator” like jeez I guess we should all know about gators and let myself think of a gator coming at my kids while at Disney. No, because I like others don’t equate no swimming to gators! Sorry if I rambled this whole story infuriates me (not your post, just the online stories), a family lost a little boy, leave them alone!
A tragic accident and this family now needs love and support. I stopped reading all the social media posts because of all the blame and negativity out there.
I agree with you, unless we were there, we have no room to speculate and point fingers, losing a child is horrible for parents. We do not need to add to it. Thank you for your thoughts.
You wrote the most accurate post explaining how the tragedy happened. Also thank you for commenting about all those nasty people with negative comments about the parents and suggest they shut up. This was a horrible accident and Disney expected people to go in Lagoon. See pictures on hotels website with people ankle deep in lagoon. Disney is at fault. They have removed about 240 gators from Lagoon in last 10 years by the way. Other Hotels have Alligator warning signs
Still keeping the family in my prayers because as the weeks go by and the shock wears away the true pain starts to ache in their hearts and soul.Postitive thougths and prayers to deal with the pain.
Words cant begin to express how awful I feel..this poor family.
This was such a heart breaking story and like you said it’s lucky all those other children didn’t get hurt before this tragedy. I still believe Disney should have had this area fenced off if they had any idea there could be potential problems.
I hope after this time the family has been able to move on with life,it’s so hard losing a child!
This story broke my heart when it first happened 2 years ago. But for some reason, it has really gotten to me lately. I think it’s because my son is now the exact age precious Lane was when this tragedy happened. My son has the same big blue eyes as Lane. I have put myself in their shoes and it hurts so bad! I have shed many tears, said many prayers, and lost hours of sleep thinking about this family. I remember being so furious with people blaming the parents! I would have let my kids do the same thing! And I’m from Louisiana, which has twice as many gators as Florida. I pray that time has healed some of their wounds.
I agree with you LeAnne. It was such a terrible tragedy, but one that could have happened to anyone of us. Unfortunately social media makes the blame game so easy for others to play.