The State should sue the parents because “They knew, or should have known, that the park provided negligent training and supervision of park lifeguards.
Certainly a tragedy, but the lifeguards/ officials aren’t totally responsible here. This child reportedly DID NOT know how to swim. He also went beyond the marked swimming area boundary. It saddens me when people let their kids play in lakes using no flotation devices when they don’t know how to swim. If you can’t see the bottom of the lake, a lifeguard can’t see you!
There were 6 kids and 4 adults on this trip. They were swimming in a lake, not a pool. It’s much harder to see swimmers in a lake. If this kid was chasing a ball that means he was playing with others. Why didn’t they call for help when the kid didn’t resurface? Lifeguards are no guarantee that someone won’t drown. They aren’t there to protect people who can’t swim from their own stupidity. They are there to react to observable dangerous behaviors or to respond to emergencies. No notice….no liability. Now the greed parents want money to go to Disneyworld. They don’t deserve anything.
It’s a good thing that $15M will make them forget about their son and do nothing for their own negligence. The lifeguards cannot be expected to watch everyone at the lake – what about the liability for the other adults that were chaparoning him? I’m sure they’re the next to be named.
Parents need to be responsible for their own negligent parenting, not society.
i’v been in that situation wher the life guards aren’t doing their job. I understand it’s the parents responsibilty BUT if its your job than do it thats why you’re getting paid for and thats what you were train for… if you don’t have children and never been in that situation keep your comments to yourself.. its not about the money a child is very unreplaceable BUT SOMEONE SHOULD PAY FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING A MOTHER GOES THROUGH EVEN THOUGH IT WILL ALWAYS BE THERE!!!
Would good Christians and true members of a community sue their church congregation for anything other than the most egregious negligence and resulting injury?
Self-kept, I really hope that was sarcasm…. “its not about the money..BUT SOMEONE SHOULD PAY”
Your comments are ridiculous. Lifeguards cannot be everywhere at once. When a parent is so negligent as to let a child with no ability swim is such an uncontrolled environment as a lake, quite frankly, the parents ought to be taken to jail by CPS for gross negligence. It is unfortunate that this child had to die, due strictly to a lack of parental duty. If these people have any other children, they ought to be taken away.
Mike – the mother has four other children – with plans for all:
1. She is sending her 10 year-old daughter with asthma on a school trip to the Dust Bowl museum in Oklahoma City;
2. She is sending her 9 year-old twins with peanut allergies to a camp founded by George Washington Carver, located in Plains, GA (home of Jimmy Carter);
3. She is sending her oldest son, who is 17, to work as a page in the House of Representatives.
IF THE LIFE GUARDS ARE TRAINED TO SAVE LIVES THEN ALL AREAS WHERE PEOPLE ARE SWIMMING SHOULD BE COVERED.
IF THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH LIFE GUARDS THEN THE CHURCH AND PARENTS SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED THAT ALL THE CHILDREN COULD NOT GO ON THE TRIP. AND HOW DARE THE COMMENTS FROM THOSE OF YOU THAT SAY ITS THE PARENTS FAULT, APPARENTLY SHE TRUSTED THE CHURCH TO TAKE CARE OF HER CHILD WHILE ON THE TRIP. NOT ALL TRIPS AT SCHOOL OR CHURCHES OFFER INVITATIONS TO THE PARENTS FOR THESE TRIPS FOR CHILDREN.
Doesn’t anyone find it odd, strange, sad, or just plain frightening that our society has resorted to huge monetary damages for the loss of a loved one? No matter the circumstances, is $15 M going to get the child back? Does that really compensate a parent for the loss of a child?
Or is there something else at work here? Greed?, Anger and revenge (you know, somebody is going to pay)?
How have we arrived at a point where losing a loved one is like winning the lottery? Sad statement about our society. I wonder if Rome had anything like this?
IF YOU’RE IN PAIN, SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE OWES YOU MONEY!!!
Really? There’s no such thing as being accountable for your own actions anymore? A lifeguard, a church counselor, your best friend- what do these have in common? None of them can help you fast enough if you go beyond your limits and slip under the waves. You’re dead in a moment.
Too late for a lifeguard but just in time for an attorney.
I also noted that facts are very scarce in this miniscule article. There is no mention of negligence on the part of the lifeguard staff or church counselors; only the tragic death of a 12-year-old boy. We don’t know if he was wrestling with friends in shallow water, swam out too deep and panicked, dove and hit his head on a rock, had a seizure or just got tired and slipped under the waves. Anything is possible with a 12-yr-old, so hold your moneydump on the next of kin to see if there was truly a reason to fault everyone who ever saw this boy.
Unless the lifeguards were individually assigned to each swimmer, there’s no way a lifeguard can watch each person all the time. Why is it a lifeguard’s fault when a person goes beyond his own abilities to his mortal detriment? Is it because of his tender age? 12-yr-olds think they’re invincible- I swam out past the breakers and was pulled out by the Seaside Heights lifeguards when I was 13. Twice. In one week. Whose fault was it? Mine. I was immortal in my own mind and couldn’t understand how I almost drowned.
The third time I tried, I made it through the riptide and all the way to the sandbar. I didn’t learn anything that summer.
My prayers are with the mother and family that lost their son; I can’t imagine the heartache and pain that they must be enduring.
The State should sue the parents because “They knew, or should have known, that the park provided negligent training and supervision of park lifeguards.
Certainly a tragedy, but the lifeguards/ officials aren’t totally responsible here. This child reportedly DID NOT know how to swim. He also went beyond the marked swimming area boundary. It saddens me when people let their kids play in lakes using no flotation devices when they don’t know how to swim. If you can’t see the bottom of the lake, a lifeguard can’t see you!
There were 6 kids and 4 adults on this trip. They were swimming in a lake, not a pool. It’s much harder to see swimmers in a lake. If this kid was chasing a ball that means he was playing with others. Why didn’t they call for help when the kid didn’t resurface? Lifeguards are no guarantee that someone won’t drown. They aren’t there to protect people who can’t swim from their own stupidity. They are there to react to observable dangerous behaviors or to respond to emergencies. No notice….no liability. Now the greed parents want money to go to Disneyworld. They don’t deserve anything.
The liability should be on the parents for not having their son trained to swim.
It’s a good thing that $15M will make them forget about their son and do nothing for their own negligence. The lifeguards cannot be expected to watch everyone at the lake – what about the liability for the other adults that were chaparoning him? I’m sure they’re the next to be named.
Parents need to be responsible for their own negligent parenting, not society.
i’v been in that situation wher the life guards aren’t doing their job. I understand it’s the parents responsibilty BUT if its your job than do it thats why you’re getting paid for and thats what you were train for… if you don’t have children and never been in that situation keep your comments to yourself.. its not about the money a child is very unreplaceable BUT SOMEONE SHOULD PAY FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING A MOTHER GOES THROUGH EVEN THOUGH IT WILL ALWAYS BE THERE!!!
Would good Christians and true members of a community sue their church congregation for anything other than the most egregious negligence and resulting injury?
Self-kept, I really hope that was sarcasm…. “its not about the money..BUT SOMEONE SHOULD PAY”
This is a small article. Is there really enough information here to make judgement. I’m not seeing it.
According to the local news channel WSET:
“She (the mother) is also suing lifeguards, the park ranger and church chaperones.
One of the chaperones was (the boy’s uncle).
Henley (the mother) is suing her brother and her sister-in-law as well as the Sycamore Baptist Church.
Self-kept,
Your comments are ridiculous. Lifeguards cannot be everywhere at once. When a parent is so negligent as to let a child with no ability swim is such an uncontrolled environment as a lake, quite frankly, the parents ought to be taken to jail by CPS for gross negligence. It is unfortunate that this child had to die, due strictly to a lack of parental duty. If these people have any other children, they ought to be taken away.
Mike – the mother has four other children – with plans for all:
1. She is sending her 10 year-old daughter with asthma on a school trip to the Dust Bowl museum in Oklahoma City;
2. She is sending her 9 year-old twins with peanut allergies to a camp founded by George Washington Carver, located in Plains, GA (home of Jimmy Carter);
3. She is sending her oldest son, who is 17, to work as a page in the House of Representatives.
IF THE LIFE GUARDS ARE TRAINED TO SAVE LIVES THEN ALL AREAS WHERE PEOPLE ARE SWIMMING SHOULD BE COVERED.
IF THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH LIFE GUARDS THEN THE CHURCH AND PARENTS SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED THAT ALL THE CHILDREN COULD NOT GO ON THE TRIP. AND HOW DARE THE COMMENTS FROM THOSE OF YOU THAT SAY ITS THE PARENTS FAULT, APPARENTLY SHE TRUSTED THE CHURCH TO TAKE CARE OF HER CHILD WHILE ON THE TRIP. NOT ALL TRIPS AT SCHOOL OR CHURCHES OFFER INVITATIONS TO THE PARENTS FOR THESE TRIPS FOR CHILDREN.
Doesn’t anyone find it odd, strange, sad, or just plain frightening that our society has resorted to huge monetary damages for the loss of a loved one? No matter the circumstances, is $15 M going to get the child back? Does that really compensate a parent for the loss of a child?
Or is there something else at work here? Greed?, Anger and revenge (you know, somebody is going to pay)?
How have we arrived at a point where losing a loved one is like winning the lottery? Sad statement about our society. I wonder if Rome had anything like this?
IF YOU’RE IN PAIN, SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE OWES YOU MONEY!!!
Really? There’s no such thing as being accountable for your own actions anymore? A lifeguard, a church counselor, your best friend- what do these have in common? None of them can help you fast enough if you go beyond your limits and slip under the waves. You’re dead in a moment.
Too late for a lifeguard but just in time for an attorney.
I also noted that facts are very scarce in this miniscule article. There is no mention of negligence on the part of the lifeguard staff or church counselors; only the tragic death of a 12-year-old boy. We don’t know if he was wrestling with friends in shallow water, swam out too deep and panicked, dove and hit his head on a rock, had a seizure or just got tired and slipped under the waves. Anything is possible with a 12-yr-old, so hold your moneydump on the next of kin to see if there was truly a reason to fault everyone who ever saw this boy.
Unless the lifeguards were individually assigned to each swimmer, there’s no way a lifeguard can watch each person all the time. Why is it a lifeguard’s fault when a person goes beyond his own abilities to his mortal detriment? Is it because of his tender age? 12-yr-olds think they’re invincible- I swam out past the breakers and was pulled out by the Seaside Heights lifeguards when I was 13. Twice. In one week. Whose fault was it? Mine. I was immortal in my own mind and couldn’t understand how I almost drowned.
The third time I tried, I made it through the riptide and all the way to the sandbar. I didn’t learn anything that summer.
My prayers are with the mother and family that lost their son; I can’t imagine the heartache and pain that they must be enduring.