Falling branch kills baby in NYC's Central Park

[Ruby the Liberal]

Source: MSNBC

NEW YORK — A 6-month-old baby was killed Saturday and her mother injured by a falling tree branch at New York's Central Park Zoo.

Police said the 33-year-old New Jersey woman was posing with her baby in front of the sea lion exhibit and her husband was taking their picture when the branch fell.

The woman and infant were taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where the baby was pronounced dead. The mother was listed in stable condition.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37948666/ns/us_news/

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How heartbreaking! Please keep this family in your thoughts.

:cry:

[Horse with no Name]

1. How horrible!

What a freak accident.

[superconnected]

12. Not when a 46 you was killed by a fallen branch this year too there, and another guy was knocked out

last year by a fallen branch there.

Nothing freak about it. Branches are rotted and falling and the City is not maintaining that park right. The article lists that the google engineer was hit by a rotting branch.

[virgogal]

2. Awful,just awful.

[aquart]

3. They really do have staff that go through that park pruning those things.

No mention of other children with them and she's 33? I wonder how long and hard they tried for this child. It just sucks.

[Lucky Luciano]

8. My girlfriend is 36 next month and we are considering our first - have not tried

because we wnjoyed not having the heavy responsibility.

That said....terrible accident...seems that stuff like that happens in the park a couple times a year.

[Maru Kitteh]

18. You better get busy in a damn hurry then. You don't know what kind of trouble you or she may have.

Maternal age is only one factor. About 40% of infertility issues involve the male.

If either of you do run into fertility issues, you don't have a lot of time left to try to fix them.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

21. It seems that the huge snowstorm we had compromised an incredible number of trees. I live

in Westchester County, and every time there's squall, an inordinate number of branches have been coming down. In larger storms, trees are coming down easier too.

[Sanity Claws]

4. Very sad

This is at least the third instance of a tree killing or seriously injuring someone in Central Park in the past couple of years.
The parks department is inspecting the trees and marking branches to cut off; you see trees with yellow police tape around the trunk or branches, marking them for removal. Apparently the parks dept. can't get to all of the trees.

[boppers]

5. Ugh. Awful.

One day you're having fun with your new baby at the zoo, and hours later your whole life is destroyed....

[madmax]

6. Terrible tragedy

This poor family, my heart goes out to them. :cry:

[Taverner]

7. That. Sucks.

:hug: to the family....

[GoddessOfGuinness]

9. My heart goes out to them...

To lose a child is the most profound sorrow...

[Stargazer09]

10. That is just heartbreaking

Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That poor baby. :cry:

[SunnySong]

11. Horrific accident... nt

[CoffeeCat]

13. Heartbreaking...

I just can't even imagine losing a baby like that.

So very sad.

[proteus_lives]

14. Horrible.

[starroute]

15. How long before some wingnut tells us that risk-taking is good ...

... and that expecting the Park Department to cut off rotting branches fosters a climate of dependence on the recreational nanny-state?

[Odin2005]

16. OH NO!

:cry:

[Berry Cool]

17. What can you say? Just terrible. n/t

[marions ghost]

19. people dont realize

how often branches fall from trees even when it's not windy.

Although drought stress is often a factor, I doubt there's much you can hold the city responsible for in this. Maintaining trees well helps, but does not prevent this.

Tragic. Life is fragile.

[malaise]

20. Too sad

:cry:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

22. I heard about it yesterday and it is so heartbreaking. We had a huge snowstorm in the NY Metropolita...

area this winter, and ever since, even the smallest rain storm will take out branches. In the case of larger storms, trees seem to be coming down easier. The weight of the snow from that storm was devastating.