Be Careful In Flooded Areas

[K9Fran]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/7604252.stm

 

The child was rescued by her father, but the dog is still missing. It's so easy to forget a storm drain is there, or not know it was there in the first place, so please be careful about letting your dogs run through flooded areas, a tragedy like this can happen so quickly.

 

Ofcourse, the fact that the father should have been keeping his child safe and not letting her play there is forgotten - he's now the 'hero' and the family pet is lost

[ReikiAnge]

I read about that earlier, amazing that the little girl was ok, thanks to his quick thinking. Poor dog though, not sounding good is it

 

I don't think it's fair to blame the father, not from what it says on the BBC site and the start of his interview anyway. He saw a grassed playing area and the daughter was splashing in puddles, as kids do. He wasn't to know the drain cover had come off under the water.

 

It is believed the storm drain cover, which had been under about 8in (20cm) of water, was pushed off by a sudden release of water pressure.

 

It's not as though he let her jump into a river.

[Rudi]

They didn't seem to have gone looking for the dog

[Happylittlegreensquirrel]

They didn't seem to have gone looking for the dog

 

 

do you mean the dad or the emergency services ?

 

given that the child was not breathing when he pulled her from the water I don't think the dad could have done anymore ? , I am sure that if he had been able to rescue the dog he would have done given that he did not freeze or panic and rushed to the river ( which a lot of people might not have been able to do ) . Its not really clear if the emergency services who attended searched for the dog as the report does not cover that

 

the whole thing sounds like a dreadful and freak accident and its amazing that both the child and dog were not lost , I think the childs clothing may have kept her floating and made her more visible and gave her father something to grab onto

[maggie110th]

This happened 5 mins from my house.

 

Most of the park was flooded my son was down there on Sunday too jumping in the giant puddles just like that little girl. The storm drain cover had poped open due to the water pressure however this could not be seen due to the huge amount of water on the grass which covered it. The river (Wear) had burst its banks so the little girl was very very lucky to be saved as the river was very fast on Sunday.

 

RIP boxer dog x

[Rudi]

do you mean the dad or the emergency services ?

 

given that the child was not breathing when he pulled her from the water I don't think the dad could have done anymore ? , I am sure that if he had been able to rescue the dog he would have done given that he did not freeze or panic and rushed to the river ( which a lot of people might not have been able to do ) . Its not really clear if the emergency services who attended searched for the dog as the report does not cover that

 

the whole thing sounds like a dreadful and freak accident and its amazing that both the child and dog were not lost , I think the childs clothing may have kept her floating and made her more visible and gave her father something to grab onto

 

I didn't say the dad could have done more at the time. But there was no mention of them going back to look for the dog when they knew the child was safe. Maybe I've got a peculiar attachment to my dogs but I would have been out there looking.

[Kathyw]

So would I Rudi.

 

I am hoping that the doglet popped up somewhere and maybe made it to a bank and safety.

[ranirottie]

same old story, I would have saved the child first of course, but I would have to go back to search for the dog. I do hope he is safe but if he went down a storm drain it would surely be solid water and no air. I hope he is safe somewhere. x

[cycas]

The fact that something isn't mentioned in a BBC local news story does not mean it didn't happen. I don't think we should assume that the family are not looking for their dog, just because the news story, which is focussed on the rescue of the child, does not mention it.

[ReikiAnge]

Does anyone actually know that after the father was done saving his daughter's life, he didn't go back to look for the dog? The media care about the child, not the dog, but that doesn't mean no one else does.

 

It does sound rather unhopeful for the poor dog but it also sounds like a very unfortunate and unpredictable incident and I think the father did well to manage to save one of their lives. I am not sure I'd have realised what had happened so quickly or managed to get the child out of the river.

[cycas]

The dog's name was Brophy and he was a boxer x mastiff so presumably would have been brown or brindle and hard to spot in a flooding river : the father said he only spotted the little girl because of her brightly coloured coat.

 

The version of the story from the Mirror website adds:

 

Mark said he believes Brophy may have helped save Leona by shoving her along the drain when he fell in.

 

He added: "I'd like to think Brophy pushed her out, or she'd have been trapped. I tried to find him but he was gone."

 

Really hoping that Brophy turns up alive somewhere downstream today.

Edited September 9, 2008 by cycas

[cycas]

Extra points on this from the Telegraph:

 

"Leona has told her parents she remembers being sucked down and tried to do a "star float" which she had been taught in swimming lessons but could not because she was squashed. "

 

So, probably should have been more careful about keeping out of floodwater, but 10 out of 10 for the parents on teaching their child how to cope with emergencies. The kid is just 3 years old, but has been to swimming lessons and has been taught how to stay above water in an emergency. In this particular very unexpected situation, it didn't help, but if she had fallen (or in future, falls) into a river or pond, that might well save her life.

 

"He said: "I leapt over the side and I grabbed Leona. The water was about up to my shoulder height. ""

 

This extremely brave and lucky bloke jumped into a shoulder deep river during floods to save his daughter. He's lucky he's here to tell the tale, let alone both of them. I assume the river Wear can't be very fast-flowing at that point: if you jumped into my local river up to your shoulders when it was in spate you certainly would not be getting out again easily.

 

And from the Northern Echo:

Quote from Mrs Baxter: "If we can find Brophy, that would be the best thing in the world, the icing on the cake.†"

 

I've just been trawling Google news in the hope of seeing a report that he's been found....

[Kathyw]

I was swimming before I was three as was my brother.

Where we lived there were lots of 'Deepies' bomb craters and they would fill with water, also canals everywhere and my Dad wanted to make sure we could get to the side.

 

You would think that swimming at such a young age would make me a good swimmer would you not?

Not so but I can get to safety and that's the point.

[K9Fran]

But after the last lot of floods, does nobody remember the youngster who lost his life after being sucked into a similar drain? In this country we are so used to everything being 'safe' we never seem prepared to take responsibility when things go wrong.

[maggie110th]

I hardly think that had the father seen the drain he would have let his child play there do you ? Yes we are used to things being safe as thats what we pay taxes and rates for in public areas and expect it since we pay for it !

 

The drain was covered by water and grass and therefore could not be seen, it is not a matter of responsibility from the family just a freak accident.

 

If anybody should be hanging their heads in shame it is Northumbrian Water Board who are reponsible for the drains in the park not the father who was simply letting his child be a child and play !