Should a special needs child who drowned at the Radisson Resort in Kissimmee, have been supervised while he played in the pool? This is the question that will be answered in a Wisconsin court, according to a recent story in the Orlando Sentinel.

The story is a tragic one — of wrongful death and hear-breaking loss. According to the Sentinel, a 12-year old boy who was dying of brain cancer was offered the chance to visit Disney World by an organization called American Dream Flite. American Dream Flite apparently brought the boy, as well as several other children, to the Radisson Resort. Parents were not allowed on the trip, so American Dream Flite assured parents that the children would be constantly supervised.

The 12-year old and several other children were apparently playing in the hotel pool without direct supervision or monitoring. Somehow the 12-year old child wound up underwater for awhile, until the other children noticed him. Helped was called, but the child ended up dying of complications of near drowning.  As a parent of four children myself, I cannot imagine such a loss.

Unfortunately, this kind of story is all too common in Central Florida — particularly each year in summer time. This particular story strikes me as particularly egregious because the child's parents were not allowed to go on the trip. This would seem to put an even larger burden of supervision on the folks who represented to the parents that they would take good care of their son. The fact that the child was sick, and perhaps had special needs, makes the situation even worse in my opinion.

Pool safety is always important. Please see the video at the top of this page for some helpful pool safety tips.

If you have any questions about a Florida drowning case or a Florida wrongful death claim of any kind, call Winter Park personal injury lawyers Kim Cullen and Bob Hemphill at 407-644-4444.

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