Child Drowns on Norwegian Cruise Ship, Second Child Airlifted to Hospital

[NMLady]

Why is it a bad thing to ask about parental supervision?

 

Fact: A stranger pulled the children from the pool.

 

Fact: A stranger performed CPR until the crew arrived.

 

Fact: a grandmother accompanied a child to the hospital.

 

Where are the parents?

 

It is possible the parents were at home at work and that the children were on the cruise with their grandmother or grandparents. What difference does it make where the parents were? Why do you need to know who was supervising them?

Edited February 5, 2014 by NMLady

[lanceholt]

Hopefully there will be a complete and thorough investigation by the authorities. Outside of that, it really is none of our business. To be so nosy and judgmental, while saying you want to "learn" from it, and demanding answers, is just plain nosy. Heartbreaking accident, whatever happened.

Those were very young children, just heartbreaking for all involved. But really none of anyone's business except for the authorities. The cruelty on these threads surpass anything I have seen, sickening and sick.

[Cruiser2490]

How many posts will we have with the same bashing and sentiments expressed? I think there are 3 going now.

 

I just said this myself.... Time for some moderation of these... it's getting out of hand... let's condense!

[Salty Pearls]

Unless the parents are reading this thread, they're not hearing it from anyone here. There's no harm in people discussing prevention from drowning. We don't know who was in charge of the children at the time, but it's clear that someone wasn't supervising them closely enough. You can't argue that. It's incredibly sad what happened, but discussing it helps remind people to never take their eyes off their kids when they're swimming.

 

Not just at the pools, we saw a small child fall down the main staircase after playing chase with another kid. Parents were sitting in at the bar. Child broke his arm. Imo it's not a matter of blame, more of parents or guardians being held accountable. Jm2

 

ciao

[SissasMomE]

I just said this myself.... Time for some moderation of these... it's getting out of hand... let's condense!

 

It was a MOD who started this thread. :rolleyes: I agree with you. Enough is enough.

[Beaver1975]

It is possible the parents were at home at work and that the children were on the cruise with their grandmother or grandparents. What difference does it make where the parents were? Why do you need to know who was supervising them?

 

Because, obviously someone was NOT supervising them! Duh!

[H&J]

Clear cut neglect on the part of the parent or guardian of those children. You don't take your eyes off your child for more than 15 seconds when your child is in a situation like that and you don't drown in 15 seconds. A mama alligator has a higher level of parenting skills than whoever was supposed to be watching those children.

[garycarla]

Clear cut neglect on the part of the parent or guardian of those children. ....A mama alligator has a higher level of parenting skills than whoever was supposed to be watching those children.

 

Well, I am so glad you understand all the facts of the situation. How do know what happened?

 

Please share with us what happened and how it was neglect. Please. We are all waiting.

 

Posts like this are .... (not going to repeat what I am thinking).

[ladybugpug]

If a mistake was made anywhere, it is probably one that thousands of people make daily, and they just get lucky and nothing happens. They read a book while their child is in the pool, or they get engrossed in conversation with the person next to them. They get a false sense of security because maybe there is a lifeguard, or if not, there are lots of other people in the pool, and Joey just learned how to swim, or they put water wings on the kid, just in case, and someone will surely notice if a kid gets into trouble!

 

They don't realize that drowning is a very quiet process which does not draw attention to the person in trouble. There are no shouts, calls for help, or frantic splashing. It can only take a few seconds. I wish everyone would look up the Seven Quiet Signs of Drowning. Perhaps someone will post a link as they did after the Carnival incident. You could be looking directly at a child while they drown and never be aware of it if you don't know the signs, so let's not fault the family in this tragic situation.

 

I agree! "There but through the grace of God go I". No parent is perfect. Horrible things happen to kids... even kids with great parents. I lost my 4 year old at an amusement park because I got into a heated discussion with my mother in law. My daughter decided to go get on a ride. She was only "missing" for maybe 5-6 minutes and that was one of the longest 5 minutes of my life. If she had been taken or injured it WOULD have been my fault because I wasn't watching her. I would hope that people would have been compassionate and not slammed me.

 

I have no idea of what happened in this case. If the adult in charge was in a different part of the ship then yes that is neglect. But if mom, dad, grandma got distracted for 5 minutes?

 

I think the only way parents can really make sure the child is safe is to actually get into the water with them. There are way too many people around the pools for easy vision.

[NH Cruisers]

If a mistake was made anywhere, it is probably one that thousands of people make daily, and they just get lucky and nothing happens. They read a book while their child is in the pool, or they get engrossed in conversation with the person next to them. They get a false sense of security because maybe there is a lifeguard, or if not, there are lots of other people in the pool, and Joey just learned how to swim, or they put water wings on the kid, just in case, and someone will surely notice if a kid gets into trouble!

 

They don't realize that drowning is a very quiet process which does not draw attention to the person in trouble. There are no shouts, calls for help, or frantic splashing. It can only take a few seconds. I wish everyone would look up the Seven Quiet Signs of Drowning. Perhaps someone will post a link as they did after the Carnival incident. You could be looking directly at a child while they drown and never be aware of it if you don't know the signs, so let's not fault the family in this tragic situation.

In this quote about being engrossed in conversation or reading a book while two very young kids are with you around water? If that were the case, which who knows what was, that would be negligence. After all had a paid lifeguard been doing the same, they would be sued for negligence.

 

As a parent of a now 22 YO the wife and I never let our kid stray at such a young age. Even with a couple young cousins with us at the beach and Water Country we kept a constant eye and someone in the water with them. I have at times had to help them in pools because they would have difficulty.

Somebody is negligent here, and the only way to educate the rest of us and other couples with small kids is to find the root of the problem. Folks may feel it is harsh and cold, but the conversation as hard as it may be should be done.

For some to say this may not have been avoidable... What? What could possibly be a non-avoidable drownding of a small 4 YO and 6 YO?

 

If there was someone watching them that could not swim themselves, to let the kids in the water would be negligent.

 

After (hopefully) an investigation fault will be found, find who's to blame? If no one is rightly blamed, the child died in vane. It will only happen again and again in the future.

[spunkyhungry]

In this quote about being engrossed in conversation or reading a book while two very young kids are with you around water? If that were the case, which who knows what was, that would be negligence. After all had a paid lifeguard been doing the same, they would be sued for negligence.

 

 

Somebody is negligent here, and the only way to educate the rest of us and other couples with small kids is to find the root of the problem. Folks may feel it is harsh and cold, but the conversation as hard as it may be should be done.

For some to say this may not have been avoidable... What? What could possibly be a non-avoidable drownding of a small 4 YO and 6 YO?

 

If there was someone watching them that could not swim themselves, to let the kids in the water would be negligent.

 

I agree. When a child is swimming you DO NOT take your eyes off the child for a 5 minute conversation. Your eyes are on the child the entire time, following his every move. I also don't understand how people say this may not have been avoidable. That doesn't make sense. Drowning is always avoidable if the child is properly supervised by someone who's capable of rescuing the child if necessary.

 

The sad truth is some people don't understand the importance of keeping their eyes glued to the child. Every time I'm on a cruise, and sometimes at the beach, I notice small children playing by themselves in the water with no clear adult supervision. I then take it upon myself to watch them until I see them reunited with a caregiver.

[drarill]

Really tragic…. prayers to the family, crew members and passengers onboard the ship

[tel2]

Even the best, strictest, most diligent parents have momentary lapses. My parents were ungodly strict, and never even allowed us to go to a friends house 4 or 5 houses down the street without walking us down. Even as we got older, all parties and events at others homes required calls to the hosts parents; they drove us to and from sleepovers and would not allow us to go at all unless they knew the parents well. My father gave the 10th degree to anyone I dated as I became older.

 

Nonetheless, when I was 7 years old, and my brother 6, our family including my godparents, all went to the NY worlds fair. We stayed at a hotel on the worlds fair site. And we had adjoining rooms - my parents and us in one room, my godparents next door. We were playing on the bed in our room, whining that we wanted to go the fair, and my parents were in the adjoining room finishing lunch, with the door open between the rooms where they had full site of us. I can still remember my dad coming into our room to use the bathroom, and when he went back over to the other room the door closed behind him between the rooms. I guess they didnt notice. So within moments my brother and I decided we were going to go see the fair by ourselves. We got thru the lobby and out onto the fairgrounds and within minutes were hopelessly lost and crying. A policeman took us to an ice cream parlor, and got us ice cream, and tried to figure out where we were staying. We were missing for the better part of an afternoon. Fortunately, we remembered the name of the hotel and the police were able to track down our family, who had long ago realized we were missing and were frantic and out looking for us. Could it have been avoided, probably. Could we have ended up kidnapped or dead or hurt, sure. Does it mean my parents were bad parents, I definitely dont think so. Mistakes happen, it doesnt mean the parents are unfit.

 

In any event, my heart and prayers go out to the familes involved.

 

Terry

[H&J]

Well, I am so glad you understand all the facts of the situation. How do know what happened?

 

Please share with us what happened and how it was neglect. Please. We are all waiting.

 

Posts like this are .... (not going to repeat what I am thinking).

 

Well maybe you see things differently but when children, YOUNG children, are playing in a pool, it is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to supervise them, no excuses. You don't leave a young child alone, period. And people don't die immediately after going under.

 

A equals A in my world and in this case, A is clearly negligence on the part of the parent or guardian be it their own direct negligence or imputed negligence for assigning their duty of care to those children to a third party, particularly if the third party was less than competent in their duties.

 

Swimming pools are supposed to be fun but carry inherent risks. Those children were of an age where they could not be expected to guard against those risks, protect themselves and determine what is best for their welfare, an adult was. That adult failed them. The negligence was in the lack of adult supervision where there were known risks.

[garycarla]

... clearly negligence on the part of the parent or guardian be it their own direct negligence or imputed negligence for assigning their duty of care to those children to a third party, particularly if the third party was less than competent in their duties.

... That adult failed them...

...The negligence was in the lack of adult supervision where there were known risks...

 

 

Well, I am glad to see someone here has the total facts and can explain to us what happened. It is wonderful that we have folks come here with the knowledge and foresight to make conclusive statements. The FBI really does not need to investigate at all as it appears there is nothing to investigate. We now just need a judge to pass sentence based on this information.

 

Thank you for sharing with the rest of us.

[tonit964]

I feel that with children of those ages, someone should be in the pool with them. Not only just watching them. When they are older, you can just watch.

 

If you are sitting in a lounger by the pool with a book in your hand and glance up every now and then, you are asking for trouble.

 

Whoever those boys were with, is negligent. Maybe they were at the pool by themselves. Anyone who has been on a cruise knows there are kids left unattended all the time.

 

By starting a thread like this, there is no way not to have other CC posters question what happened.

 

Not every poster will only just send prayers and condolences, there will be other comments, but to say "wait to find out what really happened", I doubt we will ever know the final outcome of the investigation.

[garycarla]

...

 

Whoever those boys were with' date=' is negligent. ... I doubt we will ever know the final outcome of the investigation.[/quote']

 

 

Doubt we will know, yet some are already calling others "negligent". How does that work?

[quercus alba]

I doubt we will ever know the final outcome of the investigation.

 

Why do we need to know?

Why???

[blindrid]

I'm saying I would like to know about the supervision of these children while in the pool, which BTW is a totally normal question to ask and I know I'm not the only one wondering about it.

 

A lot of drownings, sadly, probably are avoidable.

 

You cannot defend a snarky post by continually post your comments criticizing those when sympathy should be the first thought. Save the world elsewhere.

[Aquahound]

Why do we need to know?

Why???

 

Because this is Cruise Critic and even though these people weren't there and know nothing about the victims or their families, they insist someone must be at fault. It can't just be a tragic accident.

[punkincc]

Because this is Cruise Critic and even though these people weren't there and know nothing about the victims or their families, they insist someone must be at fault. It can't just be a tragic accident.

 

Because in this country, society dictates that someone must be blamed, and someone must be punished. Some people will never accept that this was a random event based on a set of circumstances and chain of events ( that we will never know the details of ), which happened to a diligent, caring family who is suffering now beyond imagination.

 

To do so would be to accept the fact that they themselves are not the infallible, perfect parents they think they are, and that it could even happen to them. And they will never do that. Some of them never bothered to read the link to the IDR, never learned anything from this story which might help protect their own family or someone else's.

[garycarla]

Because in this country, society dictates that someone must be blamed, and someone must be punished. Some people will never accept that this was a random event based on a set of circumstances and chain of events ( that we will never know the details of ), which happened to a diligent, caring family who is suffering now beyond imagination.

 

To do so would be to accept the fact that they themselves are not the infallible, perfect parents they think they are, and that it could even happen to them. And they will never do that. Some of them never bothered to read the link to the IDR, never learned anything from this story which might help protect their own family or someone else's.

 

Well said.

 

For those that are asking for details, so they can avoid similar situation, fine.

 

For those that are asking to be nosy... well. I will leave it at that.

[Nat4u]

prayers for the family

 

this would not have happened if their was parent supervision, if your kids cant swim well then they should not be in a pool. NCL is not at fault here, clearly the parents must shoulder their pain. this was a tragedy that didn't need to happen, if only parents watch their kids especially when swimming in a pool.

[XCaliGurl]

Clear cut neglect on the part of the parent or guardian of those children. You don't take your eyes off your child for more than 15 seconds when your child is in a situation like that and you don't drown in 15 seconds. A mama alligator has a higher level of parenting skills than whoever was supposed to be watching those children.

 

My question to you is, HOW MUCH TIME DOES IT TAKE FOR SOMEONE TO DROWN? Be it a child or a adult? It takes less then 15 seconds.

 

It takes one breath of water. Just one.

 

One breath and a child can have drowned or an adult. You can pull them from the water immediately perform CPR and may not be able to save them. Or you can have someone that's been under water for 20 minutes pull them out of the water and be revived with no long term effects.

 

Simple fact is everyone needs to get a reality check and realize this can happen to anyone. Child or adult. Bottom line is you need to respect water. Even the most experienced swimmers can drown. Even the most supervised person can drown. Just 1 breath.

 

As to this situation. This maybe a really awesome Grandparent who always takes their grandchildren on a cruise once a year, loves to spend time with their grandbabies and would trade their life for that of their babies. I can only imagine the devastating grief the family/families are experiencing.

[tammy531]

My question to you is, HOW MUCH TIME DOES IT TAKE FOR SOMEONE TO DROWN? Be it a child or a adult? It takes less then 15 seconds.

 

It takes one breath of water. Just one.

 

One breath and a child can have drowned or an adult. You can pull them from the water immediately perform CPR and may not be able to save them. Or you can have someone that's been under water for 20 minutes pull them out of the water and be revived with no long term effects.

 

Simple fact is everyone needs to get a reality check and realize this can happen to anyone. Child or adult. Bottom line is you need to respect water. Even the most experienced swimmers can drown. Even the most supervised person can drown. Just 1 breath.

 

As to this situation. This maybe a really awesome Grandparent who always takes their grandchildren on a cruise once a year, loves to spend time with their grandbabies and would trade their life for that of their babies. I can only imagine the devastating grief the family/families are experiencing.

 

Well said...prayers to that family, witnesses, staff and other passengers. I cant imagine how they must all feel.

 

sent from my Samsung galaxy s3