2 yo falls in river

[okgo]

A lot of people are confusing every day situations where complete freak events can happen with something totally different - a flooded river in the dark I’d expect anyone logical to agree carries a different risk rating to almost any other every day situation - like walking near a road or that moronic st posted by sugarbear’ mate.

Anyway, let’s hope they find the child, an awful thing to occur.

[monthou]

okgo said:

A lot of people are confusing every day situations where complete freak events can happen with something totally different - a flooded river in the dark I’d expect anyone logical to agree carries a different risk rating to almost any other every day situation - like walking near a road or that moronic st posted by sugarbear’ mate.

Anyway, let’s hope they find the child, an awful thing to occur.

They were on a bridge. What's the risk rating for being on a bridge?
You have no idea what happened.

[okgo]

monthou said:

They were on a bridge. What's the risk rating for being on a bridge?
You have no idea what happened.

So in what circumstances is this just an unavoidable act of god, then?

I see no outcome to this that is not fully the fault of the parents and is avoidable - doesn’t bring them back, and it’ll be the worst grief there is - but that isn’t much to do with how it happens in the first place..

Half of the tripe trotted out on here is comparing something that is a steady state risk (let’s be honest, It wasn’t some flash flood like you see abroad, weather warning was in place for rain) to the actions of another party (like a car mounting the pavement) or a dog, or a pedo in a park.

[monthou]

okgo said:

monthou said:

They were on a bridge. What's the risk rating for being on a bridge?
You have no idea what happened.

So in what circumstances is this just an unavoidable act of god, then?

I see no outcome to this that is not fully the fault of the parents and is avoidable - doesn’t bring them back, and it’ll be the worst grief there is - but that isn’t much to do with how it happens in the first place..

Half of the tripe trotted out on here is comparing something that is a steady state risk (let’s be honest, It wasn’t some flash flood like you see abroad, weather warning was in place for rain) to the actions of another party (like a car mounting the pavement) or a dog, or a pedo in a park.

We've gone from playing on the banks of a flooded river (your version) to walking along a footbridge (Telegraph).
I have no idea, you have no idea.

[otolith]

It sounds as if they were on the Packhorse Bridge, which was originally built to enable passage over the wetlands during periods of flooding.

https://www.geograph.org.uk/stuff/list.php?label=C...

[okgo]

otolith said:

It sounds as if they were on the Packhorse Bridge, which was originally built to enable passage over the wetlands during periods of flooding.

https://www.geograph.org.uk/stuff/list.php?label=C...

Which looks quite hard to have an issue with unless you pick up said child and put them on top of the wall. Though some of the other bridges in the area looking distinctly more dangerous,

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5635934

[otolith]

okgo said:

Which looks quite hard to have an issue with unless you pick up said child and put them on top of the wall. Though some of the other bridges in the area looking distinctly more dangerous,

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5635934

Yep. I'm going on the basis that the police were asking for witnesses in the vicinity of the Packhorse Bridge, and a witness said "I saw the man disappear under the arch. Then I knew there was a child in the water and I tried to look myself" - and that the Telegraph said that the bridge is about 15 feet high.

[Otispunkmeyer]

otolith said:

okgo said:

Which looks quite hard to have an issue with unless you pick up said child and put them on top of the wall. Though some of the other bridges in the area looking distinctly more dangerous,

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5635934

Yep. I'm going on the basis that the police were asking for witnesses in the vicinity of the Packhorse Bridge, and a witness said "I saw the man disappear under the arch. Then I knew there was a child in the water and I tried to look myself" - and that the Telegraph said that the bridge is about 15 feet high.

Maybe they were on that footbridge rather than the pack horse? I can't see how you go into the water as a 2 year old unless you're walking on the walls! But the footbridge, you can easily see them slipping under the rails. Then again, I don't know how flooded it was, could very well have been underwater entirely that footbridge.

[Sheets Tabuer]

Locally it is rumoured he slipped through railings in an instant and was gone, just like that.

[Genuine Barn Find]

sugerbear said:

I had a friend who refused to allow his three children to go to the local park because.. "peado's", his kids stayed at home and played in the garden. He also sent them to martial arts clubs so they could look after themselves as well.

I thought it was very odd, he said the same of me for putting my children at risk. #shrugsshoulders

I expect that if anything happened to my kids he would be one of the first ones on facebook shouting how terrible a parent I was.

Sometimes st happens and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Absolutely. A horrendous situation, and st does happen. A few weeks ago my wife phoned me in floods of tears. Our 4 year old boy had very nearly got flattened by a lorry in the village walking home from school. He’s usually stuck to my wife like glue, but a split second and he’d stepped into the road. My wife is usually quite chilled about cuts and bruises and falls, which is why i know just how close he came to being a statistic. It took her a few days to get over it. I have a pit in my stomach thinking about the family of this little boy.

[otolith]

Sheets Tabuer said:

Locally it is rumoured he slipped through railings in an instant and was gone, just like that.

Do you know where it happened?

[BikeBikeBIke]

Genuine Barn Find said:

Absolutely. A horrendous situation, and st does happen. A few weeks ago my wife phoned me in floods of tears. Our 4 year old boy had very nearly got flattened by a lorry in the village walking home from school. He’s usually stuck to my wife like glue, but a split second and he’d stepped into the road. My wife is usually quite chilled about cuts and bruises and falls, which is why i know just how close he came to being a statistic. It took her a few days to get over it. I have a pit in my stomach thinking about the family of this little boy.

I've always thought it's a miracle that any toddler grows up to adulthood (and with both eyes still in their sockets).

There are very few parents that haven't had a near miss or two, IME.

[President Merkin]

BikeBikeBIke said:

I've always thought it's a miracle that any toddler grows up to adulthood (and with both eyes still in their sockets).

There are very few parents that haven't had a near miss or two, IME.

Put me in that bracket. My daughter wandered out between two parked cars, aged three & was very nearly run over. I'd taken my eye off her for literally a couple of seconds to put a bag in the boot of the car. Whose fault was that? Mine. Should I be expected to never make a mistake? Hmm.

No one is infallible. Too many judgy idiots can't wait to point fingers.

[okgo]

President Merkin said:

Put me in that bracket. My daughter wandered out between two parked cars, aged three & was very nearly run over. I'd taken my eye off her for literally a couple of seconds to put a bag in the boot of the car. Whose fault was that? Mine. Should I be expected to never make a mistake? Hmm.

No one is infallible. Too many judgy idiots can't wait to point fingers.

The obvious point being made is that you can not have that lapse of judgement next to something like a fast flowing river. Same as you wouldn’t on the edge of a cliff, there’s no second chance there and certainly no third party like a car who could save your mistake by stopping/swerving.

But people are thick, so they’ll fk with nature until it bites them -

https://x.com/whitbyphotos/status/1719468676561117...

[Sheets Tabuer]

otolith said:

Do you know where it happened?

Not exactly but there's only two bridges I think in the area.

[Muzzer79]

TeamD said:

limpsfield said:

TeamD said:

I'm so glad that the bleeding heart "it's a terrible unavoidable accident" types among you aren't doing the risks assesments for any jobs I'm involved in.

Stop digging.

My son is still alive at 22 do well done me.

Accidents happen. There but for the grace of god etc.

You don't get it do you? Did you bother to look at the photos of the river where the police are having to risk their lives to search for a kid who should never been taken anywhere near it in the first place!? By the looks of it, an adult should be seriously considering giving it best and going home too.

I think you’ve got a bit light-headed due to altitude at the top of your very tall ivory tower…..

[mcdjl]

Sheets Tabuer said:

otolith said:

Do you know where it happened?

Not exactly but there's only two bridges I think in the area.

While it is a river it's a navigable river, ie you normally get canal boats on it. In flood though the whole area does change, any meadows either side of Leicester flood but are also usually parks.
Mines only 7 months old and only rolling over but has so far managed to roll off the bed twice, his first solid food was wrapping paper.... Yep he'll have some close calls later in life. He does though have two bouancy aids for when I get him in as boat.

[BikeBikeBIke]

okgo said:

President Merkin said:

Put me in that bracket. My daughter wandered out between two parked cars, aged three & was very nearly run over. I'd taken my eye off her for literally a couple of seconds to put a bag in the boot of the car. Whose fault was that? Mine. Should I be expected to never make a mistake? Hmm.

No one is infallible. Too many judgy idiots can't wait to point fingers.

The obvious point being made is that you can not have that lapse of judgement next to something like a fast flowing river. Same as you wouldn’t on the edge of a cliff, there’s no second chance there and certainly no third party like a car who could save your mistake by stopping/swerving.

I think you're familiar with roads so you regard them as safe, whereas you're less familiar with water so you regard it as uniquely dangerous.

It's pretty much the opposite way around.

Same with your cliffs example. I don't like heights and I'm not familiar with heights so I'd be way over protective near a drop, but it's no different to a busy road, one wrong step and you're dead. Hopefully you'd always be within one step of a toddler or holding hands near any of those three hazards... But sometimes it doesn't work out like that and we've all had near misses.

Edited by BikeBikeBIke on Tuesday 20th February 14:42

[monthou]

Apparently the police now have cctv of the child falling in.
Not that it's needed, they could have asked okgo what happened.

[PurpleTurtle]

How very sad, our son is 9 tomorrow, he's an only child, I can't think what it must be like for the parents.

I don't know the dynamic of the situation here, but I was chatting to some other dads at kids football last night about how relatively easy it is to manage just one kid compared to two or more when out and about doing family stuff.

When our son was that age he had two parents watching him like a hawk at every opportunity, my wife and I would literally (and audibly) tag each other to the effect of "you have control" so we knew who was eyes-on with him at any given time. My wife thought I was a nutter at first, but I felt it was effective. As soon as you add in an additional child per parent/carer is becomes significantly harder to manage that.