Posted on 03/27/2011 10:14:06 AM PDT by Krankor
Nancy Midlock, 56, of southwest suburban Shorewood, gets teary recalling a gut-wrenching day and night on the Riviera Maya south of Cancun.
It was 2003 and her 8-year-old son, Brent, had disappeared while on a family vacation.
He was discovered dead and mangled after being sucked into a pool drain pipe.
A trip to Mexico can go from heaven to horrendous in a moment, grieving parents of vacationers say.
Last week, Midlock was among those lobbying in Washington who have lost children in vacation accidents. They urged Congress to pass a bill that would let those traveling internationally know dangers that may await and what medical care is available.
Midlock said she found herself staring into the barrel of an AK-47 (“I had never seen a gun before”) as security staffers held her back while the pool was searched. “I was screaming, ‘Brent!’ ”
A memorial website — brentmidlock.com — describes Brent as “a playful, energetic, happy, athletic boy who had lots of friends,” a kid who “encouraged the underdog.”
His dream was to play football for Joliet Catholic Academy and to attend college at Notre Dame. He wanted to be an anesthesiologist.
The family went to Mexico on vacation as an Easter present. In the late morning of April 26, 2003 — just a month past his ninth birthday — he was sucked into an uncovered 111/2 inch pool drainpipe at a Playa del Carmen resort, she says. He disappeared inside the pool as the family frantically searched for him.
“Suffering the daily nightmare of living without Brent can only be described as a living hell. It is a journey that none of us can possibly imagine,” the family writes on the website.
The Midlocks say the hotel did not disclose the existance of the pipe for hours and refused to pay for the cost of his funeral.
They are supporting the International Travelers Bill of Rights Act, introduced by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) It would require travel-booking websites to provide information including U.S. travel advisories and warnings and whether a resort has a doctor, defibrillator, staff trained in CPR or lifeguards.
“Information about a destination’s safety is the most important item to pack,” Markey said. Though the State Department has travel tips at state.gov, most travel vendors don’t emphasize negative information.
Maureen Webster’s son died in Cancun in 2007 after being pulled from a pool. Webster, 51, of Woburn, Mass., says the death was the result of unpreparedness, slow response and medical personnel who refused to intubate him. She said a trauma nurse who was a hotel guest was held back from helping her son, Nolan.
She started mexicovacationawareness.com, which details the death of her son and others, links to State Department stats on non-natural U.S. deaths in Mexico and solicits incident reports. Some deaths occur because of lower hotel balcony railings and fewer defibrillators in Mexico, she says.
The tour operator who booked the trip for Nolan and his girlfriend never said a word about dangers, Webster says, choking up. She now regrets she told her son: “ ‘Go to Mexico — it’s fun.’
“You think when you’re inside the resort it’s safe,” she says. “You need to know.”
Germans are famous for going to various vacation places and getting into serious trouble or health situations. The basic truth is that you shouldn’t travel beyond your state...if you don’t want to take big risks.
Historically...before the 1920s....most folks didn’t have the money or resources to take vacations, so this topic wasn’t ever discussed. As the car came along...folks started this fantastic idea of actually driving a state over....and eventually with the interstate and aircraft...they ventured to faraway places.
And those that encounter problems, they are surprised as hell and expect the government to "do something about it".
I think that people are more than capable of realizing that vacationing in a third World Country gives them the opportunity to exp[erience possible calamities and medical services of that country. A little bit of personal responsibility and they may have ended up in Daytona Beech.
I had seen lots of guns, dozens and dozens of guns but I had never had one pointed at me until the Mexican Army did it. They held us at gun point while they searched our truck. They didn’t find anything so they let us go and we never went back to Mexico again.
Exactly right.
Even a CAR is an AK47?
Please keep posting this pic. Truth in advertising.
What is Congress supposed to do? Right now, the government is not preventing travelers from learning what dangers may await them when they travel abroad. What more can be done to "let them know"? Do these grieving family members believe Americans shouldn't be allowed to travel abroad unless they sit through some kind of government lecture on travel safety? How would that work?
No, Markey the Commie wants to "require travel-booking websites to provide information." An unfunded and unnecessary mandate if I ever heard of one. People have access to an infinity of travel information on the Internet, radio and TV, in libraries, at the State Department website, etc., ditto what medical care is available where. Finding that out before you leave is due diligence, especially if you are traveling with children.
As a matter of fact, there is an American hospital in Cancun, a clinic in Playa del Carmen, and the area has an excellent ambulance service. All the hotels have doctors on call.
This news story would have been vastly more useful had it identified the resorts where these tragedies occurred.
One of my German friends from Skype goes to Egypt and Turkey all the time. I always say are you sure you should be going there.. And she always says Oh its not dangerous for us.. She is actually going to Egypt in May.. Crazy germans.
"It's called 'Google', look into it."
And they all carry M16 or Ar-s, not AK-47s. She drank the media koolaid. Every weapon of military style is an AK!
My mom owns a travel agency and it has a link to the state dept website, concerning travel advisories. It’s not the travel agent’s job to investigate every contingency at a resort.
Um...but that would mean taking some kind of personal responsibility. You don’t seem to understand, this is the Age of Obama- the government will take care of you. Heck, even if there was a website which warned about every possible mishap that could possibly occur-it still wouldn’t be your fault.
You are privileged to live in a country which has created sufficient wealth to insulate you from most of the random dangers that the rest of the world takes for granted. Act accordingly.
Maybe they should just add that disclaimer on every travel website.
We already have travel warnings.
The Internet offers more information than ever available.
People need to take responsibility for their actions.
Of course I feel bad over the loss of the children, but do a little research. It shouldn’t be the Government’s responsibility to educate you that a vacation to Libya this summer has its dangers.
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