Sad day to start the new year

karatechrissy

We go sledding every New Years Day. We live in the desert, so we have to drive 1.5 hours north to get to the snow. So, it is kind of a big deal when we go. It's a special trip and we have to plan accordingly. We have only missed one year, 2 years ago because we didn't have SS on the holiday, and DD was only 6 moths old. No reason to go. lol. Anyway, it wasn't our year to have SS today. We asked BM if we could possibly switch (we had new years eve and she new years day, both are her  normal days so she wouldn't have him for one of them either way). She declined and said they had plans. Ok... that's fine. We were just sad ss couldn't come with, and he was upset he was missing the trip. 

We went. DD cried for her big brother in the car. she kept saying 'I want to go get my big brother right now please!'.

We got to the mountain and DD and DS really enjoyed sledding. We had a nice afternoon. About 30 minutes into sledding, two little girls were riding in one sled, and were in a restricted area. There was a large rail put in place about half way up the sledding mountain this year for safety. People got hurt last year going too fast because it was too high and steep. So the big rail was put there along with signs that say 'do not go beyond this point'. We were on the front side of the rail, and about 2 feet to the side of us two girls came down the mountain from higher up and plowed straight into the fence. The girl in back got up but hte girl in front just went limp. A man rushed and grabbed her, but her eyes rolled back into her head and her body just sprawled out.I looked at DH and told him I was going to go get help, handed him DS and ran down the mountain. Found a police car but no officer. Ran to a department of transportation truck and he wouldn't roll down his window! He was eating his sandwich. I screamed at him someone was hurt and he needed to radio someone. He got out of his truck and kinda looked around. I spotted the police officer and ran to him. Explained the situation quickly but calmly as I could. Told him the girl was unconscious and not breathing. He was SO slow about gettin to his car. The family was behind me finally and screaming in spanish, that was why I was trying to stay calm so I could get across the info that he could understand. It took him almost 10 minutes to get up to teh scene. She was breathing finally but still not moving. An ambulance came about 10 minutes after that. The whole thing took so long, and everyone seemed so unconcerned about her I couldn't understand. I just learned on the news that she died at the hospital. I am so sad and broken hearted about this. I don't understand why that family went above the rail. I don't know why people were so slow to react. I tried to call 911 on my phone and had no service. it wouldn't even go through for an emergency call. I'm so sad for that family. My H doesn't want to talk about it so just kinda needed to write it down. He has a hard time with things like this... thanks for reading.

hopanka

That is horrible! I am so sorry. Poor little girl!

docco11

Vegas gal here too...I asume you mean Mt Charelston? We went up there on Christmas and we were shocked by the lack of parenting by 99% of the parents. kids running around in front of traffic, sliding down hills that are clearly not meant to be used for sledding. So sorry to hear of this happening. 

guilletskichuk

So sorry to hear about this. You totally did the right thing by going to get help. You mentioned that the family was speaking in Spanish. Perhaps they did not see or could not read the sign? (I'm not meaning to be ignorant. I'm not sure if the signs are written in more than one language).

I've been in a few emergency situations before and I agree that, in the moment, everything seems to be going in slow motion even if you think it should be going much faster. :S

I hope you find some peace in sharing this. I understand the need to vent in writing at times, especially since you can't talk to your DH about it. Please take care.

fellesferie

Oh god, that's awful.

I'm so sorry. It sounds like you did everything you could. 

+just+j+

That is so terribly sad for the family, and I am so sorry you went thru this.

Not to hijack, but I too experienced a lot of frustration over the drowning accident we had a couple of years ago.  The paramedics were slow to respond and it took them way too long to get to the hotel when they were only a block away.  And when they got there they were very non chalant. They did not hustle, they walked, not ran into the pool area. They knew there was a drowning and CPR (sp?) was being applied.   H had the boy breathing by then, but had he not, we know the he would not have lived. 

And don't get me started on the cops.

To this day it IRRITATES me to no end.

You will go thru some Post Traumatic shock and it will be tough for you, but it will ease with time. I am just now not having nightmares. I still get freaked out and over protective of DD near pools, but I'm getting better.   Find someone else to confide in if you need to and keep talking about it. It helps ease the trauma and the feelings you may be struggling with. 

It's not unusual for men to not want to talk about it.  Some just cope quietly that way and it can be misconstrued as that they don't care.  The boy's father also did not want to talk too much about it after. He wanted to move on from it quickly because he could not deal with the "what ifs".   

Hang in there.  I know it's tough. How are your kids doing? Are they coping okay with it?

karatechrissy

J - my kids are so little they didn't even realize what had happened. DD is 2.5 and was down at the bottom of the hill when it happened. She had just gone down in the sled with a family friend that went with us. DS was with us but barely being 1.5, he didn't know anything that happened.

 Actually the signs were not in spanish. English only. BUT, they were on bright red plaques. I suppose, if they were an only spanish speaking family and couldn't read english it would explain it. However, if no one else is that high up, and there is a large metal farm like fence blocking people from going up any further, and big red signs, you would think that the sign being in their language or not they would be able to understand not to go past that point? Maybe? IDK... maybe it was just a lack of understanding the signs. I didn't think about that before. 

I feel almost silly being so upset about it. I didn't know her or anything. It has left me really shaken up though. I've never been one to make a big deal out of things like this but I keep thinking about how those parents must feel. I keep wondering if she knew what was happening in the midst of it happening. I keep seeing her eyes blinking and her shocked look on her face and how her body just... just went limp. I keep thinking if I were those parents... I don't think I could live with myself. She was only 8. 8 years old and she is just gone. Never to grow up or have a family or anything. I don't know why I'm so impacted by this. 

bebe11

That is horrible.  I am so sorry that you had to witness that.

guilletskichuk

karatechrissy:

J - my kids are so little they didn't even realize what had happened. DD is 2.5 and was down at the bottom of the hill when it happened. She had just gone down in the sled with a family friend that went with us. DS was with us but barely being 1.5, he didn't know anything that happened.

 Actually the signs were not in spanish. English only. BUT, they were on bright red plaques. I suppose, if they were an only spanish speaking family and couldn't read english it would explain it. However, if no one else is that high up, and there is a large metal farm like fence blocking people from going up any further, and big red signs, you would think that the sign being in their language or not they would be able to understand not to go past that point? Maybe? IDK... maybe it was just a lack of understanding the signs. I didn't think about that before. 

I feel almost silly being so upset about it. I didn't know her or anything. It has left me really shaken up though. I've never been one to make a big deal out of things like this but I keep thinking about how those parents must feel. I keep wondering if she knew what was happening in the midst of it happening. I keep seeing her eyes blinking and her shocked look on her face and how her body just... just went limp. I keep thinking if I were those parents... I don't think I could live with myself. She was only 8. 8 years old and she is just gone. Never to grow up or have a family or anything. I don't know why I'm so impacted by this. 

Only the family will know why they went so far up the hill, whether they didn't understand the signs or were just taking risks. I grew up in BC in the middle of tons of ski hills. On a daily basis people went into restricted areas to ski and snowboard. Some people just like to take risks and there is really no need for it.

It is incredibly understandable that you would be affected by this tragedy. You witnessed something very horrible. It was a loss of life. The fact that you have young children likely affects you even more because, whether you mean to or not, you are probably putting yourself into the position of the parents who lost their daughter. When you imagine yourself in those shoes, you become much more attached and emotional. If this continues to upset you, you may want to talk to a professional about it. There is no harm is talking and getting your feelings off of your chest.