Oh man... I took this call...

[ChristopherCoy]

This one hurts. Especially because I took the original calls. I can still hear his mom screaming on the phone.

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1445371.html

[CaptainTom]

Bad situation for sure.
As a boating safety advocate I have to cringe when this sort of thing happens.
Mandatory boating safety classes seem so important.

I'm sorry you had this call. Hazards of the job I guess. It's hard to put it out of your mind, until the next one comes along. Must be plenty of times when you were in the middle of some joyous endings as well ?

[ChristopherCoy]

Oh yes, they dont all end like this.

And I would have been fine, but I'm back at work (working the night shift for the next three nights) and I had Fox 4 news on tv. They ran the story and it immediately caught my ear. I dont usually like to follow up on calls that I've taken, especially this type, for this exact reason. But I couldn't avoid it this time...

I remember his mom yelling "I think his jaw is broken...."

[Rson]

Jet skier's are the roaches of the water. Being a seasoned wakeboarder, I can tell you MANY times where we were following a line and some yahoo on a jetski was jumping the wake.

Sad.

Here is a video of a rider accomplishing a 1080 spin and we had to stop because a roach was screwing up the line.

http://www.wakepics.com/video/11213/i-hate-jet-skiers

[BigC]

Pulling anyone let alone a child behind a boat is a stupid and reckless thing to do. His parents should be charged with manslaughter and child endangerment.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by BigC

Pulling anyone let alone a child behind a boat is a stupid and reckless thing to do. His parents should be charged with manslaughter and child endangerment.

Those are some pretty harsh words without knowing what actually happened.
But really, pulling anyone behind a boat is stupid and reckless?
I guess in your opinion boats are just for fishing then?

[Jeff_Green]

Originally Posted by BigC

Pulling anyone let alone a child behind a boat is a stupid and reckless thing to do. His parents should be charged with manslaughter and child endangerment.

That is about the dumbest thing I have heard (aside from calling jet skiers roaches).

Wow.

[BigC]

Any time you put your or anothers life at risk for what is fundemently a stunt. Is supid and reckless. Allowing yourself to be towed behind a boat. jumping out of an airplane, climbing a sheer rock Hundreds of feet above the ground is stupid. And dead stupid people clense the gene pool. It is unfortunate that this child had to die because his parents were either ignorant of the danger or to stupid to care.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by BigC

Any time you put your or anothers life at risk for what is fundemently a stunt. Is supid and reckless. Allowing yourself to be towed behind a boat. jumping out of an airplane, climbing a sheer rock Hundreds of feet above the ground is stupid. And dead stupid people clense the gene pool. It is unfortunate that this child had to die because his parents were either ignorant of the danger or to stupid to care.

Awesome!
I'm pretty conservative with my risk-to-fun ratio, so seeing something like tubing behind a boat compared to skydiving makes me feel brave are daring...


PS, you should also add snorkeling and motorcycle riding to your list.

[BigC]

Originally Posted by thejakestir

Awesome!
I'm pretty conservative with my risk-to-fun ratio, so seeing something like tubing behind a boat compared to skydiving makes me feel brave are daring...


PS, you should also add snorkeling and motorcycle riding to your list.

They already are along with car racing and rodeos, plus many more. I'm sorry if I came across brash. But I value human life a great deal. And I hate to see it tossed away for the sake of what some call fun.

[mjdmike]

Originally Posted by BigC

Any time you put your or anothers life at risk for what is fundemently a stunt. Is supid and reckless. Allowing yourself to be towed behind a boat. jumping out of an airplane, climbing a sheer rock Hundreds of feet above the ground is stupid. And dead stupid people clense the gene pool. It is unfortunate that this child had to die because his parents were either ignorant of the danger or to stupid to care.

Water skiing is a sport, not a stunt, and isn't reckless if done properly. Driving a motor vehicle or eating fatty foods are inheritantly more dangerous than waterskiing.

To call the parents names is childish, disrespectful, and wrong -- and comments like those don't belong on this forum.

[hbwise]

Originally Posted by BigC

Any time you put your or anothers life at risk for what is fundemently a stunt. Is supid and reckless. Allowing yourself to be towed behind a boat. jumping out of an airplane, climbing a sheer rock Hundreds of feet above the ground is stupid. And dead stupid people clense the gene pool. It is unfortunate that this child had to die because his parents were either ignorant of the danger or to stupid to care.

Cheeseburgers kill more people then all of the things you have named. As does riding a bicycle, skateboarding, speeding on the highway, driving in the mall parking lot, walking to school, having unprotected sex with a partner of dubious background, having a pool in your back yard, and eating sushi. Of course they are on your list as well, right? I'm saddened by your willingness to regulate the risks others take. How many thousands spent time on the lake doing exactly what these kids did without incident? Accidents happen and people die. My heart goes out to the family, but I'm not ready to live in a padded room for my own protection.

[Debbi]

Originally Posted by BigC

Pulling anyone let alone a child behind a boat is a stupid and reckless thing to do. His parents should be charged with manslaughter and child endangerment.

Wow! As tragic as this is, I was not aware that ski boats and tubing was illegal.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by BigC

..... But I value human life a great deal. And I hate to see it tossed away for the sake of what some call fun.

But water skiing is safe! Like other have said, it's safer then lots of other things.
Would you not lets your kids play any sports? Football? Soccer?
Most all of them are more dangerous then water skiing.

[BigC]

Originally Posted by hbwise

Cheeseburgers kill more people then all of the things you have named. As does riding a bicycle, skateboarding, speeding on the highway, driving in the mall parking lot, walking to school, having unprotected sex with a partner of dubious background, having a pool in your back yard, and eating sushi. Of course they are on your list as well, right? I'm saddened by your willingness to regulate the risks others take. How many thousands spent time on the lake doing exactly what these kids did without incident? Accidents happen and people die. My heart goes out to the family, but I'm not ready to live in a padded room for my own protection.

I do not wish to regulate any thing. If people want to risk their lifes that is their business. If people engage in what they call sport and die it's because of their own ignorance. As you said every year Thousands of people engane in these behaviours and some do die. The offical cause of death is accident. My unoffical term is sucicide by moron.

BigC added 4 Minutes and 54 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by Debbi

Wow! As tragic as this is, I was not aware that ski boats and tubing was illegal.

Neither is smoking. One just takes longer to kill you.