[Cherie]

A father fought in vain to wrestle his two-year-old son from the jaws of an alligator at the Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida, police have said.

A massive search is under way for the missing boy, who was on holiday with his parents and two siblings from Nebraska.

Jerry Demings, Orange County Sheriff, told a 1am press conference how the family, who have not been named, were relaxing in a beach area at the edge of a lake on Tuesday when the alligator struck.

“There is a sandy beach area and the family was out simply relaxing ... and in the water along the lake’s edge at the time the alligator attacked the child.

“It’s my understanding the father was there nearby and the child was playing in the water, just a foot or so into the water, and the alligator came up,” he said.

“The father at some point struggled to try to get his son and was not successful and then alerted others to try and assist him in the process.”

“At some point I am told the mother may also have entered the water. The parents diligently tried to get the child,” Demings said.


http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...-hotel-florida

[Niamh.]

omg that is horrific

[Cherie]

I know, poor kid and family

[Crimson Dynamo]

Walking near waters edge at 9.20 at night...

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Walking near waters edge at 9.20 at night...

Perhaps there should be more prominent information on display given that it's a tourist area... people who live in Florida know how to peacefully co-exist with these animals, the do's and don't's, because they do it every day but this family was from Nebraska, which is smack in the centre of the US thousands of miles from either coast, and it seems like they were simply unaware of the risks.

[Cherie]

The problem with Disney resorts is you tend to suspend reality, if the area was set up as a beach resort then paddling in the water at 9pm on holiday is no biggie, if there were no warning signs I personally wouldn't be aware, it's not the Everglades

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Cherie

The problem with Disney resorts is you tend to suspend reality, if the area was set up as a beach resort then paddling in the water at 9pm on holiday is no biggie, if there were no warning signs I personally wouldn't be aware, it's not the Everglades

I agree, they should have had signs up warning people to stay out of the water in the evenings

[Glenn.]

Originally Posted by Cherie

The problem with Disney resorts is you tend to suspend reality, if the area was set up as a beach resort then paddling in the water at 9pm on holiday is no biggie, if there were no warning signs I personally wouldn't be aware, it's not the Everglades

I've paddled in the same water and I completely agree.

This is horrific. That poor family.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Perhaps there should be more prominent information on display given that it's a tourist area... people who live in Florida know how to peacefully co-exist with these animals, the do's and don't's, because they do it every day but this family was from Nebraska, which is smack in the centre of the US thousands of miles from either coast, and it seems like they were simply unaware of the risks.

I've never even been to Florida and yet I know there are gators there, who live in the water and who will eat you. It's dangerous always to let other people do your thinking for you.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Livia

I've never even been to Florida and yet I know there are gators there, who live in the water and who will eat you. It's dangerous always to let other people do your thinking for you.

I knew there were alligators in the everglades but I would never have thought they'd be in the sea there

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I knew there were alligators in the everglades but I would never have thought they'd be in the sea there

I'm sure you wouldn't let a 2 year old get far enough away from you to get eaten.

All that said, it'#s pretty horrific and I feel very sorry for the parents, but mainly the kid.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Livia

I've never even been to Florida and yet I know there are gators there, who live in the water and who will eat you. It's dangerous always to let other people do your thinking for you.

Yes, I would too, but I've come to realise that some people (me included) are just compelled to "know stuff". That's not a brag, in fact sometimes it's an annoying flaw, and not everyone has that thirst for seemingly random general knowledge. For example, if we start watching a new TV show, half way through the first episode my wife will be like "What are you doing on your phone?" and I'll be like "Oh nothing... just looking up every single actor in this show and looking at everything else they've ever been in...". Or to use another example... I now know 100% more about the location, climate and wildlife of Nebraska than I did before this thread .

Anyway, my point is that some people are not that way inclined and do operate on certain presumptions - e.g. that if they go to a resort run by a major company, it will be "safe". Where there are obvious risks like this, that not everyone will know of, I think there should probably not only be signs but prominent information pamphlets in each hotel room briefly outlining any "local dangers" that wouldn't be a concern everywhere. You don't need to tell people that they might drown in deep water, or be hit by a car crossing the road, because those things are universal... but things like dangerous wildlife is probably worth a heads-up.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Yes, I would too, but I've come to realise that some people (me included) are just compelled to "know stuff". That's not a brag, in fact sometimes it's an annoying flaw, and not everyone has that thirst for seemingly random general knowledge. For example, if we start watching a new TV show, half way through the first episode my wife will be like "What are you doing on your phone?" and I'll be like "Oh nothing... just looking up every single actor in this show and looking at everything else they've ever been in...". Or to use another example... I now know 100% more about the location, climate and wildlife of Nebraska than I did before this thread .

Anyway, my point is that some people are not that way inclined and do operate on certain presumptions - e.g. that if they go to a resort run by a major company, it will be "safe". Where there are obvious risks like this, that not everyone will know of, I think there should probably not only be signs but prominent information pamphlets in each hotel room briefly outlining any "local dangers" that wouldn't be a concern everywhere. You don't need to tell people that they might drown in deep water, or be hit by a car crossing the road, because those things are universal... but things like dangerous wildlife is probably worth a heads-up.

This is a man made Disney Beach at a cuddly Disney resort I think most people will make themselves aware of risks if they go to a new country, but in a situation like this where nature has been tampered with especially by the child friendly Disney brand there were no warning signs it's criminal

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Perhaps there should be more prominent information on display given that it's a tourist area... people who live in Florida know how to peacefully co-exist with these animals, the do's and don't's, because they do it every day but this family was from Nebraska, which is smack in the centre of the US thousands of miles from either coast, and it seems like they were simply unaware of the risks.

There were signs up around warning about swimming but not the crocks it seems

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Walking near waters edge at 9.20 at night...

Crumbs yes, I missed that bit I thought it was am not pm,good point.

Horrible tragedy but that I find unacceptable.

[Cal.]

Poor kid<\3 What a horrible event.

And poor innocent alligators who will get killed and cut open and be revealed to have not eaten him.

[DemolitionRed]

I agree with TS. Having lived in Louisiana, I would never paddle in pools of water or the ocean at night because that's when the predators are active. This couple wouldn't of risked the life of their child if they'd fully understood the dangers.

This is an awful tragedy for this family.

[Braden]

This is awful. I feel so sorry for the little kid and his family

[Drew.]

Can't imagine how horrific that would have been for the parents

[Amy Jade]

I've been to the exact resort and there are signposts telling you to keep out of the water everywhere so while I do feel absolutely sad for the poor child and the family they should have never allowed a child to go into that water

[Cherie]

Why would they ignore the signs, another tragedy that could be avoided

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Amy Jade

I've been to the exact resort and there are signposts telling you to keep out of the water everywhere so while I do feel absolutely sad for the poor child and the family they should have never allowed a child to go into that water

Well that puts a different spin on it then

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Well that puts a different spin on it then

Yep

[Amy Jade]

I literally have no ideal why they would have been where they were in the unattended water when there are huge pools in the resort that are open until really late

(When I was there they had the pool open from 6am til 11pm and they showed Disney movies on a huge screen 3 times a day)

[Macie Lightfoot]

for whatever it's worth, the Grand Floridian (resort where it happened) is on a man-made lake with plenty of beach areas to be walking along. I don't think it's strange that people were close to the water (although being in the water is a different story.)

I'm going to WDW next week so it'll be interesting to see what the atmosphere is like after this and the Orlando shooting. Too many terrible things happening all at once.