Drowning on Liberty

[rjrice1]

I used to work in a pediatric nursing home (nurse) .... most of the little kids were near drownings (one drown twice... survived the first time but the second) some were on life support .... all semi veggie state. Sad but they made a difference in my life.

Sad, But please do not point fingers at anyone. When one does you point three back at yourself.

Keep prayers for the families and those involved in this child or other lives that they get through this ordeal... especially with the holiday being tomorrow.

Teach your loved ones to swim and the rules of never swimming alone

Donate to teach a kid to swim..

[wilmingtech]

As a life long surfer, I've seen my share of incidents (and have had my own close calls) involving drowning. That slate article is spot on.

 

The thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the time in which these incidents happen.

 

You are sitting at the pool, completely sober watching your kids swim. Wife comes up and asks if you need anything from the buffet and after chatting for 30 second you turn and look at the pool to scan for your kids.

 

It takes you 30 seconds to find them in the crowd.

 

30 seconds more for you to realize something doesn't look right with Johnny and your trying to determine if you should start screaming and jump in the pool to save him or if your going to look like an idiot because he's just playing...

 

At this point its been a minute and a half, 30 seconds more to jump in and grab him

 

Now you are at the crucial 2 minute mark.

 

It doesn't take long. People don't realize how fast this can happen. At a beach with waves and an undertow I've seen peoples lives changed in a matter of a single wave and even a great parent watching their kids and doing all they can do to save them isn't enough.

 

Don't be scared but please dont be ignorant and certainly don't let your gaurd down. It can happen much faster than you think.

 

It really takes a village. As Pelican Bill said earlier, if you see kids rough housing - say something. If you feel uncomfortable because the child doesn't seem like a good swimmer, please don't be afraid to tell the child or ask the child where their parents are. Ill tell kids they are not allowed to swim by themselves. Any parent who hears you voice your concern for a child's welfare will appreciate the concern.

 

Nothing could be more heartwrenching then losing a child.

 

-Sean

[GypsybytheSea]

My husband and I were on this cruise and were deeply saddened that this happened. We had been on the pool deck mid-morning, and it was extremely crowded, noisy and active at that time. I can easily see how this child could slip under without being noticed. Drownings are often quiet and undramatic. I am not quick to blame the parents in this; I attended the staff question and answer session yesterday morning, and the Captain said that it was still unclear how much the child was being monitored. No parent is perfect, and in all the noisy, almost chaotic atmosphere on deck, it would have been easy to be distracted for just long enough to allow this to happen. I'm not saying this is what happened- I can see it being a possibility. Regardless of how it happened, this was a tragedy for a family who obviously were looking to share a carefree Christmas holiday together. I cannot imagine the grief and sorrow they must be experiencing. My prayers go out to them, as well as the other passengers, particularly children who witnessed this tragedy unfold.

[Paul65]

No parent is perfect, and in all the noisy, almost chaotic atmosphere on deck, it would have been easy to be distracted for just long enough to allow this to happen.

 

But that is sort of the point, to warn parents that it is easy to be distracted among the chaotic atmosphere of the pool deck, so you need to be ultra vigilant, if you want to let young children swim in there. Talking about that is not to try to make the parents in this case feel worse, but to encourage other parents to be very careful with their children playing in the pools.

 

I find it sad that so many people on this thread have wanted to scold people for trying to point out that it takes very close supervision to prevent tragedies like this.

[GypsybytheSea]

Paul65, at no point did I scold anyone in my post. I did point out that we do not know all the facts at this point. Do I wish for parents to be vigilant in watching their children in swimming situations? Of course. Having said that, I do not believe I know enough to blame the parents. If you took that as an insult, I'm sorry.

[internetwhiz]

I appreciated the honesty of your post and didn't find it accusatory at all. It sounded like a large family group for whom Christmas and cruises and life as they know it is forever changed.

 

 

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[GypsybytheSea]

Thank you internetwhiz. The post was from my heart. I think every passenger on the cruise was deeply affected by this, and we have had several days to think about it. My sons are grown, but I just wanted to grab them up in a big hug as soon as we were home.

Edited December 28, 2015 by GypsybytheSea

[internetwhiz]

Thank you internetwiz. The post was from my heart. I think every passenger on the cruise was deeply affected by this, and we have had several days to think about it. My sons are grown, but I just wanted to grab them up in a big hug as soon as we were home.

 

 

Well, it happened that first day at sea. A whole week onboard. You couldn't help but think about it.

 

 

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[Paul65]

Paul65, at no point did I scold anyone in my post. I did point out that we do not know all the facts at this point. Do I wish for parents to be vigilant in watching their children in swimming situations? Of course. Having said that, I do not believe I know enough to blame the parents. If you took that as an insult, I'm sorry.

 

Didn't mean you, specifically, but there have been a lot of accusations thrown around in the thread, when anyone suggests that, perhaps, there was inadequate supervision involved in this tragedy. I know that an 8 year old drowned, which is plenty enough to know there was some sort of break-down in supervision. Couching that in language like "blame the parents" may not be scolding, but it's part of the overall attempt to put down those who dare discuss the obvious.

[Sharon Sails]

I'm on the Freedom today and here in Cozumel, we are right next to the Liberty. I've been up to 11 twice and noticed that there is a RCI employee standing at the top of the stairs to the children's pool (the part where they swim around in circles). There is no one around the pools here but the families using them. I guess they are giving more attention to that pool on the Liberty for now... such a sad thing to happen. Sorry for that family...

[gaylemh]

What surprised me on Liberty is that there is a small deep pool in the kids area. I think it was the same depth as the regular pool. I saw many kids jumping in without anyone around. It would be bad if a kid that couldn't swim jumped in not realizing how deep it was. Thinking it wasn't as deep, because it was in the kids area. I was on a cruise in October, so there weren't many kids onboard, and sometimes that pool was empty. If a kid fell in, it wouldn't be good.

 

[mftrader]

On the Liberty now. When pool is open I have seen at least two yellow shirt wearing deck patrol present. Pool is closed today as we are headed to galveston colder water yet deck patrol is still present.

[mareed]

What surprised me on Liberty is that there is a small deep pool in the kids area. I think it was the same depth as the regular pool. I saw many kids jumping in without anyone around. It would be bad if a kid that couldn't swim jumped in not realizing how deep it was. Thinking it wasn't as deep, because it was in the kids area. I was on a cruise in October, so there weren't many kids onboard, and sometimes that pool was empty. If a kid fell in, it wouldn't be good.

 

I was on the Liberty XMAS cruise, but no-where near the pool deck when this occurred, and was shocked at the depth of 5 1/2 feet in that kids area.

[cruiselvr04]

I noticed the depth of the pool in the kids splash area on our November cruise and was shocked. Crazy that a pool would be that deep right where little ones are playing. I can see a 3 ft pool there but not 5 ft. Yes kids can drown in 3 ft of course but at least 8 years old can stand in it. Sure am hoping Royal is looking at this during dry dock. Even 2 and half ft would be appropriate there. Littles can get wet but not jump in over their heads.