Whale 'kills' three year old.

[RICHARD]

Saw this story today on the TV.

A family went to Hawaii on vacation.

They took a whale watching trip on a large boat. When they came across a group of whales the father put his son on his shoulders to get a better look....

The whale hit the boat and the child was thrown down against the boat and suffered a head injury. He was airlifted off the ship by the Coast Guard but was pronounced dead two hours later.

A woman, a registered nurse went to the aid of the child and performed CPR until the CG came.

The parents of the child have filed a lawsuit against the owners of the ship for not having the proper equipment- a cervical collar and because no one from the ship's crew came to his aid.

They also accused the crew of being negligent.

The grandfather, who was also on the trip, claimed the lawsuit was 'not about money, It's to make sure that someone if held responsible for the accident...'

Although this is a tragic incident, the story left me with a sense, of people not realizing that there is nothing in life that is safe.

People, time and time again, do not think about the chances that something may go wrong during any activity that they try in life.

Thoughts?

[Twisterdog]

I agree.

We are a sue-happy nation, and it is becoming the ruin of us.

NOTHING in life is a sure thing. We aren't born with a written guarantee from God tattooed on our butt.

I feel sorry for these parents.

But .. come on! If the boat carried every possible medical device for every possible injury ... no one would see whales, because the boat would be too heavy to float.

I'm SO sick of lawsuits like this.

[slick]

A tragedy indeed, but I don't think anyone should be accountable for this accident, except the Father. Big ship, small boat, or crocodile, you just don't put a small child at risk.

I would be interested in knowing more details such as why the crew did not come to assist. Most boats have medical crew on board. Are there some details not revealed??

[Twisterdog]

A tragedy indeed, but I don't think anyone should be accountable for this accident, except the Father. Big ship, small boat, or crocodile, you just don't put a small child at risk.

I disagree. You cannot protect your children from everything, all the time. You have to let them live and experience, and learn. You cannot shelter them to the point of them having no fun and no experiences, all in the name of saving them from what 'might' happen. A terribly hard thing for parents to do sometimes, as it is out nature to protect. But over-protection can have just as many negative consequences in the long-run as not enough protection.

How many thousands, tens of thousands or millions of people have gone out on large, whale-watching boats, and been perfectly safe? And one child gets hurt? Those odds are not enough to make it a "dangerous" thing to do. It's not like bungee jumping or sky-diving. I do not feel these parents put their child at unnecesary risk by taking him on a large boat. Now, putting him up on dad's shoulders? Maybe. But, who forsees that and thinks, "Oh, better not let Junior see the whales from my shoulders for two minutes, because there is a 1 in 120 million chance a whale might hit the boat, and he'll die from head injuries."

I don't think anyone is to blame here at all, in the sense of being negligent. Freak accident. OTOH, I don't think the parents have the right to sue over it either.

I would be interested in knowing more details such as why the crew did not come to assist. Most boats have medical crew on board. Are there some details not revealed??

Yeah, it sounds like there is more to the story. Or, it could be, that with a whale ramming the boat, the crew might have been busy trying to keep them afloat, if it caused damage. Who knows.

[Corinna]

Hey Twister It must the wild west mind it is scary we think alike . I have seen this story or one like it a while ago . Who in their right mind takes a active 3 year old on a trip like that? It's not like the kid would ever remember it later , we as a people want then to "experance life " then wonder why they get in to trouble later cuz they are Bored.
I do feel sorry for the child and his loss of a future.

[slick]

Originally posted by Twisterdog
I disagree. I do not feel these parents put their child at unnecesary risk by taking him on a large boat. Now, putting him up on dad's shoulders? Maybe.

That was my point and perhaps I was not clear enough. Taking the child Whale watching is not a problem on any size boat, but I just can't see putting a child up on your shoulders on a moving boat of any size. That's just too top-heavy.

And yes, there's got to be more to the story.

[KYS]

Very sad, and a freak accident.
What bothers me, though is why
didn't the crew come to his aid, not that
it would have changed the outcome.

I guess more will come out later.

[Corinna]

If this is the incident I did hear about the reasons were that they were told that they didn't want the child on the boat to start with, the parents signed a release that they would be responsable for the kid. Also it was not a large boat and the crew was trying to keep the boat a float ant running. I think it was a crew of 3 . Plus anymore you try to help and you do some thing that causes more injury you get sued so damn if you do and damn if you don't.
If this is the one , the judge threw it out of court. And told them they had no leg to stand on it was an act of nature.

[Karen]

A woman, a registered nurse went to the aid of the child and performed CPR until the CG came.

Perhaps no one on the crew was as qualified as the nurse and realized it. I am sure the crew has someone who is "first aid" certified, but an RN is far more knowlegeable and has far more training.

It is a sad accident, but an accident nonetheless, and it will be sad if laws are changed because of it.

Whales are wild animals. They will behave as such. They do not know there are laws stating that boats cannot come within so many yards of them, and I have been on boats where the captain wryly said, "Hey, someone tell that hunchback he's breaking the law!" We were at anchor and the whale approached US, and there was nothing the captain could safely do. No one got hurt, and it was amazing, but technically illegal!

[mugsy]

A tragic accident to be sure, but, come on....they're supposed to carry a cervical collar? I'm sorry for the family, but, I do not think they should be suing. Not cool.

[Kfamr]

Originally posted by slick
A tragedy indeed, but I don't think anyone should be accountable for this accident, except the Father. Big ship, small boat, or crocodile, you just don't put a small child at risk.

I agree 100%

There's no way anyone can completely keep their child out of harm. Putting your child on your shoulders when no one can have complete grasp of him/her and you're on a moving object -- isn't going to help keeping them out of danger. He could just as easily held the child in his arms, which wouldn't insure complete safety, but it's alot better balanced then having him/her above your head.

[Katiesmom]

What a tragic incident but I don't think that they should be sued sounds like that time someone sued McDonalds because there coffee was hot well hello coffee usually is hot I thought!

[cali]

people are sue crazy it was a freak accedant and thats all it was, you cant protect your children from everything, thats a horrable thing to do, they need to learn and figer out for themselves. I mean children should not be neglected but it does not matter if they rember certain experiences or not, they will be WAY better off if allowed to have a life. so there was a freak accedent big whoop its nothing to sue over.

[RICHARD]

3-year-old dies on whale watching trip
12/26/2003

HONOLULU -- A 3-year-old boy was fatally injured during a whale watching trip after the captain tried to maneuver the boat around a humpback whale and the child hit his head against the railing.

There does not appear to have been any wrongdoing by the captain during Thursday's excursion, Coast Guard officials and the tour boat's operator said Friday.

"It is a freak occurrence," said Frank Alexich, vice president of sales for Dream Cruises Hawaii, which has operated whale watching tours in the islands for nine years.

The boy, Ryker Hamilton, was with his father, Ryan Hamilton of Norfolk, Va., aboard the vessel on Thursday morning when the whale surfaced near the boat about three miles south of Oahu.

Boat captain Monroe Wightman tried to move the boat to avoid the whale and the child hit his head, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Todd Offutt said in a statement.

A nurse onboard administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation and a helicopter took the boy off the boat, but he died later at a hospital of blunt force injuries to the head and neck, officials said.

[Kfamr]

Hm, so there it says the nurse tried helping the child -- but didn't mention the child being on the father's shoulders?