This story leaves me uneasy

[Horse with no Name]

I mean seriously...it is HORRIBLE to lose track of one kid at the lake and have him drown, but how do you lose track of TWO kids?
These babies were 7. Why were they swimming in the lake without an adult? Without a life jacket?
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D99S4IJ00.html
A family outing at Lake J.B. Thomas ended with the accidental drowning of twin 7-year-old boys.

Texas Parks and Wildlife game warden Brent Tucker identified the victims as Justin and Ryan Dillard of Snyder.

Tucker says the bodies were recovered late Sunday almost two hours after their father reported the boys were missing while swimming in the lake near Snyder.

Tucker says Kenneth Dillard told law officers he briefly lost visual contact of the boys. The bodies were recovered about 25 feet from shore, at a depth of 6-8 feet.

[Sal Minella]

1. The second twin dies trying to save the first?

I lost twin granduncles when they were children -- one went through the ice and the other went after him.

[Horse with no Name]

2. How horrible

I'm sorry for your loss.:hug:

[Sal Minella]

5. The horrible part was -- when the frozen bodies were brought into the house,

no effort was made to shield their little sister (my grandmother) from the sight. When she was a wizened old lady and her mind was gone, she would still hold her arms up over her head, imitating the form of the corpses, and she would weep broken-heartedly, in a grief that never ended for her.

I have no idea why that little girl wasn't taken to some other part of the house while the boys were brought in. (In the family, "the boys" always meant those boys.) Grandma was terrified whenever any of us went swimming, and parents had to promise to watch the children every moment.

With good reason.

She baked airy thin crisp sugar cookies and she let me build canals and islands in a bare spot in the garden. There were amazing pearl buttons and a buttonhook in the drawers of her treadle sewing machine, which mass-produced large aprons for the Ladies' Bazaar at the church.

[Horse with no Name]

6. That is heartbreaking

I cannot even imagine the magnitude of that loss.

[jbnow]

8. That happened to the young sons of a beloved high school teacher

I learned about it when I was in college. I did not contact him, not even a card. I could not think of what to say except "I am so sorry" and what would that be in the face of such tremendous grief...and I imagine their is always guilt. (If only I hadn't let them go outside to play. If only I had gone out with them. If only I had watched closer. If only...)
I might have still been in my teens...looking back I'd have sent something.

I had a young son already then and the pain of that news just overwhelmed me, unbearable what they were going through. That was many years ago now and I still think of them with sorrow.

It's reminding me of a picture in my room when I was a child...it bothered me. It was that one of a guardian angel behind kids going over a rickety bridge. My sister loved it. But kids do die, sometimes they fall from that rickety bridge. The angel messes up? Or just says heck with it?

Wish all children lived long, safe, loved and happy.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

3. Shame On You For Casting Such Ill-Timed And Ignorant Judgment During A Time Of Such Tragedy.

Do you have even the slightest idea of the tremendous and unbearable pain that family is going through right now?

Disgusting.

[Horse with no Name]

4. So you think it is ignorant to ask why TWO small children

weren't properly equipped to swim in a lake and lost THEIR lives?
They were swimming without life jackets and without a parent at arms reach and obviously weren't even in the line of sight of them.
I know you don't live in Texas but we have had one of the heaviest years in drownings in a long time. It's all over the news. Most of it has been preventable by simple safety measures.
Why wouldn't you make sure your kids were safe?
Sorry--I value my kids more than that and it makes me uneasy that someone else obviously does not.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/080509dnmetdrownings.a9122793.html
Number of child drownings in Texas reaches all-time high
>>>snip
"This is the most drowning deaths we've seen since 2008, when our count reached 82 for the entire year," she said. "It's of obvious concern that we have surpassed that already and it's only August."

Gonzales urges "extreme caution" to parents, "particularly over Labor Day weekend when many families will take to lakes and swimming pools."

The most recent death in the Dallas area took place last month when 1-year-old Arianna Muncy fell into her Garland pool. She died about two weeks after the fall on July 20.

In Texas, an average of 70 children drown each year, according to the department, which began tracking child drownings in 2005.

[dysfunctional press]

7. i almost drowned in a pond when i was about that age...

it was a private pond, owned by the guy she worked for, who had some small factory on the property- i don't even remember what he made, but my mom did the packing/shipping. on weekends in the summer, he let his employees come out to use the pond.
my mom was on shore, about 20 feet away...the bottom of the pond had a bit of a drop-off at that point, and i was bouncing off the bottom and coming out of the water, then i went down and the bottom was deeper than the previous jump, and my feet got caught in some weeds and branches at the bottom...i couldn't reach the surface with my head to breathe, but i was able to splash with my hand, and got my mother's attention, who then ran in and pulled me out.

it was a pretty scary day.

i can't imagine how horrible those people must feel.

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. U have to keep an eagle eye on boys that age. In a second they are out of your sight.

[Faux pas]

10. I'm having a hard time believing they went down with a whimper.

Losing sight of them is one thing, not hearing them struggle is another.