A new twist that few saw coming has been revealed in the case of a cruise vacation that went dangerously wrong.
Panic erupted on a Disney Dream cruise ship when a 5-year-old girl fell from the vessel’s fourth floor earlier this year.
It has now been revealed that the full police report pointed a finger at the child’s mother for risking the child's life.
Highlights
- An unexpected twist has been revealed in the case of a family cruise vacation that went dangerously wrong.
- The police report revealed that the mother’s actions contributed to the 5-year-old girl’s terrifying fall.
- The mother refused to take responsibility for the fall and blamed the cruise ship for it.
- Netizens had plenty to say about the mother’s actions prior to the fall.
An unexpected twist has been revealed in the case of a family cruise vacation that went dangerously wrong
Image credits: Joeri Mombers/Unsplash (Not the actual photo)
The little girl and her family were aboard the Disney Dream cruise ship, returning to Florida from The Bahamas, when the fall took place.
Screams were heard at around 11:29 a.m. on June 29 after the child fell through a porthole and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.
Image credits: metzd87/Reddit
The father was initially hailed a hero for jumping after his daughter within seconds.
But the narrative quickly changed online when netizens demanded he be put behind bars. They also asked his wife to divorce him and take custody of his daughter away for putting the child’s life in danger.
It has now been reported that the mother’s actions had contributed to the terrifying fall.
The police report revealed that the mother's actions contributed to the 5-year-old girl's terrifying fall
Image credits: herdthinner/DeviantArt
While speaking to Broward County Sheriff's deputies, the mother said they were walking on the fourth-floor deck when they passed by the porthole.
She had “offered for her daughter to take a picture in the porthole,” after which the child climbed in front of the porthole window and posed atop the railing.
The husband was walking about 10 feet ahead of them at the time.
The mother, who refused to take responsibility for the incident, told deputies that she had been clicking pictures of her daughter throughout the trip in other portholes and windows.
“She provided me with a picture of [the girl] laying in a porthole with a window on it,” a deputy said in the report.
Right before the child’s fall, the mother had clicked so many pictures that investigators were able to string together what happened.
“When streamed together, [the pictures] depict a seconds-long video of the child getting up on the railing, and falling backwards into the water,” the report said.
“Instagram pics more important than own child,” one commenter wrote online
Image credits: metzd87/Redditmetzd87/Reddit
The mother, however, did not take responsibility for the incident and “stated that she felt like there should be coverings on the windows.”
“Disney is responsible for what occurred,” she claimed.
The report noted that there were other viewpoints covered with smooth plexiglass across the ship. However, the portholes like the one the child fell from were open and easily accessible to a child.
Image credits: YOOPERIPA/X
“[The mother] assumed the porthole had a window or plexiglass, and she thought that [her daughter] would be caught by the glass, but instead, she kept falling,” the report said.
She watched her daughter fall through the opening and stood stunned for a few seconds before finally yelling to get her husband’s attention.
When he turned around, he “observed his daughter in the water.”
The mother refused to take responsibility for the fall and blamed the cruise ship for it
Image credits: Cruise with Ben and David/YouTube
“He initially ran to get help but, after approximately 45 seconds, decided to jump into the ocean to attempt a rescue,” officers added in the report.
Hundreds of passengers watched the chaos unfold, as it took about 20 minutes for the father and daughter to be rescued.
The mother “screamed for help and tried to maintain visual contact with both the child and her husband as the ship turned,” according to the report.
Image credits: Jackson Jetsetting/YouTube
Although the father couldn’t see his daughter, he followed her screams and was eventually able to reach her.
The father and daughter were too far away to reach the floatation rings thrown to them, and he couldn’t grab them without the risk of accidentally letting go of his daughter, who couldn’t swim.
He treaded water and held his daughter above the surface for about 20 minutes until rescue personnel arrived.
The husband “expressed surprise and relief at their survival,” the police said.
The child did not sustain any injuries, but the father received treatment for one.
The father treaded water for about 20 minutes, keeping his daughter afloat, until rescue personnel arrived
Image credits: metzd87/Reddit
Detective Christopher Favitta with the sheriff's office recommended having the mother charged with one count of child neglect without great bodily harm because she “ultimately facilitated” the circumstances.
“Upon looking at the window myself, as a prudent person, I immediately saw that the window was open to the air, and did not have a covering,” the detective said in a report.
“This act facilitated by [the mother] placed the child in a life-threatening situation,” he continued. “As a result, the child fell from the ship and into the water, in an avoidable accident.”
However, the Broward County State Attorney's Office closed the case without any charges filed against the mother.
“While the defendant's conduct is arguably negligent and irresponsible, it does not rise to the egregious level of conduct necessary to establish criminal culpable negligence,” Assistant State Attorney Melissa Kelly said in an email sent on September 16.
Detective Christopher Favitta said no arrest would be made in the case since the Broward County State Attorney's Office decided not to file charges.
Netizens had plenty to say about the mother’s actions prior to the fall
