My heart goes out to the family of this poor child but I'm sorry I cannot (for the life of me) understand the mother of this kid when she says she can only take "partial" blame for Nicholas death. Partial? Really? Now, let me get this straight. I don't think anyone denies the fact that the owner of the fishing pirogue should have had life jackets (and needs to be charged)...however does that fact take away the responsibility of this mother to protect her own son? Many "red" flags were there and she chose to disregard those concerns:
1. She knew (before she got into the boat) that it only hold 5 passengers, yet there were 14 people on board.
2. There were no lifejackets on board. When you enter in any sort of water transport, isn't that one of the first things you ask?
3. She knew her son could not swim and he was terrified of the water.
4. She also said that the water was hitting against her butt and asked the captain if something was wrong because she have been on a pirogue many times and never experienced that. Yet, she chose to go regardless.
Yes, the fisherman was WRONG. Yes, the government should have planned better for the Red Bull Flugtag event. Yes, Coast Guard vessels should have been patrolling the area. HOWEVER, all this doesn't take away her responsibility of ensuring the safety of her children. She had the facts and yet chose to do something different.
Sad. VERY sad.
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