Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beach sand is dangerously unstable - always. The rule is never dig a hole deeper than your knees.

It’s sad that so many people seem ignorant of this common sense.

If “so many people seem ignorant of this” then it’s not “common sense”. I hope this tragedy garners a lot of attention— so that people who are less familiar with beaches and the properties of sand can learn from it.

Yes. As someone who grew up 30 minutes from the ocean/a beach, I knew this rule. But this family was from Fort Wayne, Indiana- I'm guessing they were not going to "the beach" with regularity or enough to have this ingrained as common sense.

This! I’m from a landlocked area and had no idea. Fortunately, my sister and I never had the interest or commitment to dig anything deeper than a few inches. And now I know and will make sure my kids know. But if you don’t live near a beach/sand, you don’t know the rules. Just like how Florida kids don’t learn to drive safely in the snow.

Exactly. It is so SMUG to call it common sense. Little kids don't take a physics class before they go on vacation.

As stated, many people die this way (children who work on farms, construction workers). It is an accident people, not some kind of intelligence test.

They should have warnings in beaches about it.

Warnings about sharks, riptides, jellyfish, and collapsing sand in holes.

Anonymous wrote:Pay wall so I cannot read. How did she die if the parents were there- they couldn't dig her out quick enough?

I think you might be picturing this incorrectly. Loose, uncompacted sand plus water behaves like a very viscous liquid. It fills the space as soon as you try to remove it. It’s the same way farmers die in grain silos.

Loose uncompacted sand without water is very heavy and obeys the laws of physics with respect to the steepness of the walls of the hole or trench, potential energy due to depth of hole or trench etc. Ask any person in construction and they will tell you that they are not allowed to dig trenches or holes of a certain depth without shoring the walls. If a hole 6 feet deep fell on a small child, the danger is not just suffocation, but mechanical asphyxia and crush injury due to the weight of all the sand/water. It’s graphic, but she likely was pulled out with terrible crush injuries.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beach sand is dangerously unstable - always. The rule is never dig a hole deeper than your knees.

It’s sad that so many people seem ignorant of this common sense.

If “so many people seem ignorant of this” then it’s not “common sense”. I hope this tragedy garners a lot of attention— so that people who are less familiar with beaches and the properties of sand can learn from it.

Yes. As someone who grew up 30 minutes from the ocean/a beach, I knew this rule. But this family was from Fort Wayne, Indiana- I'm guessing they were not going to "the beach" with regularity or enough to have this ingrained as common sense.

This! I’m from a landlocked area and had no idea. Fortunately, my sister and I never had the interest or commitment to dig anything deeper than a few inches. And now I know and will make sure my kids know. But if you don’t live near a beach/sand, you don’t know the rules. Just like how Florida kids don’t learn to drive safely in the snow.

Pay wall so I cannot read. How did she die if the parents were there- they couldn't dig her out quick enough?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beach sand is dangerously unstable - always. The rule is never dig a hole deeper than your knees.

It’s sad that so many people seem ignorant of this common sense.

If “so many people seem ignorant of this” then it’s not “common sense”. I hope this tragedy garners a lot of attention— so that people who are less familiar with beaches and the properties of sand can learn from it.

This. I hate people who are saying terrible things about parents who've just been through the worst loss.

If the parents were supervising the whole time then why wouldn’t they be accountable for such a situation? If my kid died in day care I would blame the staff. It’s not like an accident where the kid was unsupervised.

But they obviously didn’t recognize it was dangerous so it’s not their fault.

No I absolutely can’t consider this story in any way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beach sand is dangerously unstable - always. The rule is never dig a hole deeper than your knees.

It’s sad that so many people seem ignorant of this common sense.

If “so many people seem ignorant of this” then it’s not “common sense”. I hope this tragedy garners a lot of attention— so that people who are less familiar with beaches and the properties of sand can learn from it.

This. I hate people who are saying terrible things about parents who've just been through the worst loss.

If the parents were supervising the whole time then why wouldn’t they be accountable for such a situation? If my kid died in day care I would blame the staff. It’s not like an accident where the kid was unsupervised.

If they weren't supervised, you'd be blaming them for the lack of supervision.

It' a horrible accident and those parents are in hell. How about some grace?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beach sand is dangerously unstable - always. The rule is never dig a hole deeper than your knees.

It’s sad that so many people seem ignorant of this common sense.

If “so many people seem ignorant of this” then it’s not “common sense”. I hope this tragedy garners a lot of attention— so that people who are less familiar with beaches and the properties of sand can learn from it.

This. I hate people who are saying terrible things about parents who've just been through the worst loss.

If the parents were supervising the whole time then why wouldn’t they be accountable for such a situation? If my kid died in day care I would blame the staff. It’s not like an accident where the kid was unsupervised.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beach sand is dangerously unstable - always. The rule is never dig a hole deeper than your knees.

It’s sad that so many people seem ignorant of this common sense.

If “so many people seem ignorant of this” then it’s not “common sense”. I hope this tragedy garners a lot of attention— so that people who are less familiar with beaches and the properties of sand can learn from it.

This. I hate people who are saying terrible things about parents who've just been through the worst loss.

My kids are in college now. We spent almost every summer on a beach. Never heard of this sand digging danger. I don’t remember us digging holes but i definitely remember other kids and families doing that. Seeing that I thought “what fun!”

I spend my summer at the beach. This is definitely not common knowledge. A lot of people don't realize how unstable sand can be and how heavy it can be when it is covering you.

so many crazy accidents happen all the time and just like illness, it immediately triggers this idea in us that we would have avoided it and we can avoid it. but the truth is - sh*t happens.

I worked in news for 12 years and for a long time I would gather 'trends' I saw and try to learn from them... having a pitbull/ drive on lawnmower (so many horrific child related accidents)/ pickup truck without rearview assist/ skiing/ any type of motorbike/ any small prop plane in any weather piloted by almost anyone/ swimming in pretty much any lake (nageri fowleri)/ flying on plane with peanut allergy and no epi pen - I could go on.

there but by the grace of god. be humble people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beach sand is dangerously unstable - always. The rule is never dig a hole deeper than your knees.

It’s sad that so many people seem ignorant of this common sense.

If “so many people seem ignorant of this” then it’s not “common sense”. I hope this tragedy garners a lot of attention— so that people who are less familiar with beaches and the properties of sand can learn from it.

Yes. As someone who grew up 30 minutes from the ocean/a beach, I knew this rule. But this family was from Fort Wayne, Indiana- I'm guessing they were not going to "the beach" with regularity or enough to have this ingrained as common sense.

The poor surviving brother. Life changing in every way. You have to wonder if either parent voiced worry while the other didn't while "they're having fun." Marriages don't often survive trauma like this. Very sad.