Dad Sacrifices Drowning Son To Save Wife

Dad Sacrifices Drowning Son To Save Wife

by

I show you something fantastic and you find fault.
Published on December 4th, 2009, 11:52 am
Rift: News

Instead of going down and risking my life as well as my wife and son's, I chose to take V(anessa) back and sat on the shore praying. It was all I could do. via

This story doesn't sit well with me. You get your wife to shore, then why not go back? Sacrifice, or blatant unwillingness? I'd hate to be in his position in either case.

Knowing that professional rescue personnel couldn't get to the boy would seem to validate the dad's decision not to try and rescue his son. It probably won't ease his guilt much knowing this, but at least the dad isn't dead.

Do you remember that plane that crashed into the Potomac River and the sensational rescue footage of regular citizens jumping into the ice clogged river to help? I remember thinking that I would have done the same, until the next time I stepped out of the shower into the cold bathroom, then I wondered if anyone could do it they actually stopped long enough to think about how cold the water is.

Still wouldn't stop me from trying, sorry. There's no gray area in it for me between sitting on the bank praying, and desperately trying everything in my power to dive down and get him.

"abandons' would be a better word than 'sacrifices' which implies a deliberate offering or killing.

I'd like to think I'd make more effort than that, but without being there it's difficult to condemn him.

Nfidel wrote:I wondered if anyone could do it they actually stopped long enough to think about how cold the water is.

Most people react. I've been in ice water a few times and while it's a shock once you're in you quickly get numb. Then the clock is ticking.

A Person wrote:"abandons' would be a better word than 'sacrifices' which implies a deliberate offering or killing.

Sorry, I have a fascination with the concept.... "sacrifice"... damn bloody religious upbringing...

Liv wrote:
A Person wrote:"abandons' would be a better word than 'sacrifices' which implies a deliberate offering or killing.

Sorry, I have a fascination with the concept.... "sacrifice"... damn bloody religious upbringing...

All religious is, is a belief system.

You can't believe in nothing.

ecofox wrote:You can't believe in nothing.

Yes you do

A Person wrote:
ecofox wrote:You can't believe in nothing.

Yes you do

Ooooooooohhhhhh SNAP!

Liv wrote:
Instead of going down and risking my life as well as my wife and son's, I chose to take V(anessa) back and sat on the shore praying. It was all I could do. via

This story doesn't sit well with me. You get your wife to shore, then why not go back? Sacrifice, or blatant unwillingness? I'd hate to be in his position in either case.

Very strange story. Doesn't mention the water temperature... I was going to say that I know a fair amount about swimming in frickin' cold water, and I could understand not being able to tolerate a long swim in it without equipment. Then again, it was a mountain river. I bet it wasn't the most temperate water you can encounter.

But the story is rather odd -- says the tail lights were "more than 3 ft under water." And that the father couldn't bear to dive so deep to get to the car. WTF?? This could be a typo, and the lights were over 30 ft down. I could understand that. Or, if the car, being nose-down in the water, the back end was maybe 4 ft deep, but the front door was probably like 10-12 ft down. I've gone skin diving down that deep a few times, and it's not pleasant, and could not stay more than 3-5 sec. Really not much you can do in that case.

But the effort might have helped soothe the conscience... be able to tell yourself that you did your level best.

A Person wrote:
ecofox wrote:You can't believe in nothing.

Yes you do

<sigh>
This subject really didn't need religion injected in it. I feel terrible about this family in NZ, and can barely imagine what pain they're suffering. This father did NOT "sacrifice" his son. He made a judgment on the scene that probably kept him from dying along with his son, but it will take him a long time to come to terms with that decision. He might need his religion to help with that -- or he may not. I couldn't care less which way that goes. All I would hope for in his case is that he DOES find some sort of peace after this tragedy.

I'd be curious to follow up on this story to see if this husband and wife are still together. Most parents I know of (myself included) would prefer the child to be saved over themselves.

This story sort of reminds me of the one about the mother with two sons who got caught up in those horrific tidal waves in Indonesia. She was struggling to keep them all up, so she made a conscious choice to let one of them go and hang on to the youngest one who was a toddler (the older child was like 6 or 7). The child cried and begged her not to let him go and tried desperately to hold on to her, but she didn't. The older child miraculously survived and they were all reunited, but then she went on national television and told her harrowing story....including her decision to sacrifice one child to save the other. Why she thought the entire world needed to know that is beyond me, but how would you like to be that little boy, growing up knowing that your mom sacrificed you to save your little brother and that the whole world knew about it?