Six-year-old girl killed by car while trying to save turtle Associated Press 06/07/2005
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- A 6-year-old girl darted into traffic to save a turtle and was killed when she was hit by a car, officials said.
Emily Kent was riding with her mother Sunday when they spotted the turtle trying to cross busy U.S. 41.
Geraldine Kent pulled over so they could help, and Emily jumped out as her mother screamed at her to wait, friends said. The first-grader was struck by a car and died of her injuries. No charges had been filed.
"I've had a lot of drivers swerve to avoid a raccoon or another animal and wreck their cars," said Sgt. Owen Keen of the Florida Highway Patrol. "I've never had anyone go to help an animal and get run over."
Friends and family said Emily was an animal lover who would often try to catch turtles and snakes and never went far without her dog, Alexis.
I hope they press charges against the mother for pulling over.....what an avoidable tragedy.
Peace.
Posts: 2085 | Location: Internet | Registered: October 08, 2004
I dont think charges should be filed for anyone involved.
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Posts: 1798 | Location: Hollywood, CA USA | Registered: September 16, 2003
From what's been said here, there's no evidence the mom did anything illegal. Sounds like this morning when I stopped and walked into the road to pull out some stuff that fell off a truck and was blocking the lanes. My heart goes out to her and her family.
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i'm with you fish, i'm sure mom will suffer for life just knowing her stupidity killed her own child...
This tragedy wasn't the result of anyone's stupidity, certainly not the mother's. Her motivation was simply wanting to help a turtle - one of God's most lovable and harmless creatures, after all - from an untimely end. It was compassionate, and obviously, her intention was to go to the turtle's aid herself. Those of us with perfect hindsight can say, 'she should have considered the possibility her daughter would jump out of the car first and run to the turtle'. Of course, we wish she had, but I'm not sure I would have had that prescience. We could just as well say that if her daughter hadn't inherited and reflected her mother's compassion and sensitivity, she'd still be alive.
What an awful story.
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Posts: 4066 | Location: Boston | Registered: April 16, 2005
i'm with you fish, i'm sure mom will suffer for life just knowing her stupidity killed her own child...
This tragedy wasn't the result of anyone's stupidity, certainly not the mother's. Her motivation was simply wanting to help a turtle - one of God's most lovable and harmless creatures, after all - from an untimely end. It was compassionate, and obviously, her intention was to go to the turtle's aid herself. Those of us with perfect hindsight can say, 'she should have considered the possibility her daughter would jump out of the car first and run to the turtle'. Of course, we wish she had, but I'm not sure I would have had that prescience. We could just as well say that if her daughter hadn't inherited and reflected her mother's compassion and sensitivity, she'd still be alive.
What an awful story.
Jack...I kept waiting for your punch line but it never came....Yes, the mother's negligence does make her responsible....obviously, you must live with Michael out in Neverland...but I'm sure PETA is proud of you!
Jack...I kept waiting for your punch line but it never came....Yes, the mother's negligence does make her responsible....obviously, you must live with Michael out in Neverland...but I'm sure PETA is proud of you!
First of all, I'm not and have never been an admirer of PETA ... they're misguided fringe activists - okay, lunatics - who accomplish nothing except giving those who care about animals a bad name. So don't paint me with that brush. And I despise Michael Jackson. I'm not sure why you found it necessary to be so perjorative towards an opinion you don't happen to agree with. Give me a reasoned, articulate argument and maybe I'll be persuaded.
Second, I also don't understand that cruel streak in people who need to label someone as 'responsible' or 'negligent' for a tragedy in instances such as this one. This was, if accounts are accurate, a dreadful accident, the result of the well-intentioned but thoughtless action of a child. It was one of those mistakes God occasionally makes.
If it turns out that events weren't actually the way they were described in the wire service accounts, then I stand ready to agree with you. If not, then try to find the humanity to understand the loss here, rather than point your finger and rage.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jack White,
'Question authority. Think for yourself. Filter out the spin. Engage elected officials critically. Make them defend what they're doing in your name. Derive the truth. Speak truth to power.'
Posts: 4066 | Location: Boston | Registered: April 16, 2005
I wish I could say I'm surprised at the attitude of needing to dole out the blame, anger and names, but it shows up quite often, as if the small threads of information we have heard are the truth, the whole truth, etc. - enough to pass armchair judgment.
Ever since my kids were little, I have been as careful as I could be about their awareness in parking lots, traffic, around strange dogs, etc. In my case, if I felt it appropriate to rescue the turtle, I would have instructed them to remain in their seats, and I would be the one to retrieve the animal (yes, I would let them see it before setting it free, yada, yada). I tend to think ahead in those situations. However, I have seen countless times that a kid impulsively does something dangerous, before anyone can see it coming.
The operative words here are accident and tragedy, and they will always be with us, usually not reasonably tied to the words negligent or punishment.
Posts: 818 | Location: Central New Jersey | Registered: March 15, 2005
i'm with you fish, i'm sure mom will suffer for life just knowing her stupidity killed her own child...
This tragedy wasn't the result of anyone's stupidity, certainly not the mother's. Her motivation was simply wanting to help a turtle - one of God's most lovable and harmless creatures, after all - from an untimely end. It was compassionate, and obviously, her intention was to go to the turtle's aid herself. Those of us with perfect hindsight can say, 'she should have considered the possibility her daughter would jump out of the car first and run to the turtle'. Of course, we wish she had, but I'm not sure I would have had that prescience. We could just as well say that if her daughter hadn't inherited and reflected her mother's compassion and sensitivity, she'd still be alive.
What an awful story.
well Jack, you have got a good point there, and i'm one of the biggest animal lovers around, even pulled a few of those turtles out of the road myself, and i hate the thought of putting the blame of responsibility on anyone, but...I've spent the last 20 years seeing the results of other peoples negligence and misgivings, and have scraped those kids off the road, out of the pools, the bathtubs, the driveways and everywhere else in between, so i quess i may have some prejudice here, but the fact remains this could have been prevented, and should have!...
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Posts: 1431 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: November 29, 2003
Clearly, smokum, you have real-life experience in dealing with real-life tragedies that I don't have, and I'm sure in a lot of instances, there is clear fault that's readily identifiable. I'm unclear, though, as to the rationale behind your statement that this particular one could have been and should have been prevented. Is it your opinion that the mother should have ignored the danger to the turtle and not pulled over to help? Or that she should have anticipated the actions of her six-year old?
'Question authority. Think for yourself. Filter out the spin. Engage elected officials critically. Make them defend what they're doing in your name. Derive the truth. Speak truth to power.'
Posts: 4066 | Location: Boston | Registered: April 16, 2005
Originally posted by Jack White: Clearly, smokum, you have real-life experience in dealing with real-life tragedies that I don't have, and I'm sure in a lot of instances, there is clear fault that's readily identifiable. I'm unclear, though, as to the rationale behind your statement that this particular one could have been and should have been prevented. Is it your opinion that the mother should have ignored the danger to the turtle and not pulled over to help? Or that she should have anticipated the actions of her six-year old?
Well I just feel that if this was a busy highway, then she should have felt some sense of danger to her family by even pulling off the shoulder of the road, and getting out herself. Would it have been anyless of a tragedy for her to get runover and leave her family without a mother, or worse yet, some ahole slamming into the rear of the vehicle parked on the shoulder and killing all the kids, while she saved the turtle?...and if nothing else she should have definately made sure the kids understood the importance of sitting in the car and letting her get the turtle, prior to pulling off. And i'm not naive enough to not know that she may have done this, or she didn't think that the child would get out or that there wasn't any chance of anything like this happening, because i have kids, and have seen narrow misses and lucky circumstances...I'm not trying to be a monday morning quarterback here, and i know hindsight is 20/20, but I still cannot help but believe she should have had some sense of danger about the situation and took extra steps to insure the welfare of her family...also what do you think this does for the rest of the family, having to see their sister runover by a car? And i'm sorry to say this but ALL accidents are preventable....
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Posts: 1431 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: November 29, 2003
There's nothing you said that I can argue with. And I can't help visualizing myself in the same situation as that mother, and doing exactly the same thing she did. Even now, I have a mental image of how that terrible moment must have transpired while the mother watched, screaming at her daughter to stop! It brings me to tears. I know I probably would have stopped for that turtle, too, and there but by the grace of God ...
You're probably right about this horror being preventable, but there's just no way I can vilify this woman whose life and whose family's life is changed for the worse forever. Bad things like this shouldn't happen as a result of good motivations. As I said earlier, God makes mistakes.
'Question authority. Think for yourself. Filter out the spin. Engage elected officials critically. Make them defend what they're doing in your name. Derive the truth. Speak truth to power.'
Posts: 4066 | Location: Boston | Registered: April 16, 2005
This is a tough call, yeah the mom shoulda been more careful, but she didn't do anything willfully wrong or negligent. Then again most six year olds aren't heavy or tall enough and should be riding in some sort of car or booster seat, making it hard for them to get out of the car in the first place...
"although state law says that 6-year-olds are legally allowed to ride without a booster seat, the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) strongly recommends that children age 6 and 7 stay in booster seats until they reach 4 feet 9 inches and are between 8 and 12 years of age"
It was a tragedy and I'm sure the mom is tearing herself up enough without having to resort to legal actions.
The real bummer is for the poor person who hit the girl, that is some baggage that this person shouldn't have to deal with.
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