Boy Drown On Buffalo Sunday

[taxidermist]

It was a freak accident. Not the parents fault, not the fault of any human. At any given pint on the river or any river you can dump the canoe and be pinned under it.

Refusing rental is not the answer the river is wild, wild wild wild and anything can happen, there is danger everywhere we go everywhere we live..... It could have been a rock falling or anything. Blame on the consessioner is not right either.

God decided it was time for the boy to go home and thats it, so if you have to put the blame somewhere then you must put it on God, he is the one who decided if little Zed lived or died. No thte parents, not the livery.

All rivers are dangerous, you cannot protect everyone all the time, all lakes are dangerous.

Buffalo is advertised as a wild river and how many had floated it before the accident in the couple of weeks without anyone getting killed?

A couple thousand anyway. Maybe a thouasand that weekend!!

[WebFreeman]

God decided it was time for the boy to go home and thats it, so if you have to put the blame somewhere then you must put it on God, he is the one who decided if little Zed lived or died. No thte parents, not the livery.

Not to get into a theological discussion, but I don't think God had anything to do with it. It was, as you say, an accident. But judging from the times I've floated the bufflo, not a freak accident. People flip their canoes all the time, even experienced floaters. The risk was avoidable. We all make choices everyday that are life and death--changing lanes, speeding, did you take your meds today, etc.

I knew I shouldn't have read the link. I have a soon-to-be 7-yr-old, and the thought of losing her in such a horrific way was plagued me since Monday. We'll be down on Taney in 2 weeks and this story has definately made me rethink where we're going the day we spend on the boat. I am responsible, not God, the fates or anyone else.

[ColdWaterFshr]

I floated the Buffalo this weekend with my wife and 3 young kids (Ponca to Kyles), some of us anyway, but all of us floated Ponca to Steel Creek on Sunday. It was a great time. The outfitters were putting in HUNDREDS of canoes on Saturday and I'd say at least 3/4 of the people were very inexperienced floaters, very drunk or soon to be drunk, or some combination. I've never seen so many boats on a river as I did that day, and I'll never go there on a weekend again if I can help it. We didn't encounter anything that I would consider challenging, nor did I see any bad strainers. Maybe all the timber was flushed further downstream? In any event, I would say that the river was "sporty". People were dumping at every set of rapids, wearing jeans, no change of clothes, paddling hard instead of navigating through tricky spots -- you know the type.

As Al and Forsythian said, the Disney mentality is definitely prevalent. And as someone else has said, there is inherent danger in just about everything we do. Swimming pools, lakes, even bathtubs. You gotta be honest with yourself about your abilities, and always take the necessary precautions and never let down your guard.

I personally had more concerns about our kids getting run over by all the cars zipping around the put-in and take-out than I did about anything on the river.

Its a horrible tragedy. I couldn't imagine the helplessness they must have felt in not being able to get their little one out of that canoe.

[swellcat]

We're likely in greater danger driving to and from the water. Around 42,000 Americans die every year in vehicular crashes.

Awareness is great; adjusting our risk perception is part of that.

Condolences to the folks involved in this case.

http://www.commanderbob.com/cbstats.html

http://www.doesickworker.org/TriPaddle/safety.htm

[Wayne SW/MO]

It was a freak accident. Not the parents fault, not the fault of any human. At any given pint on the river or any river you can dump the canoe and be pinned under it.

I have to disagree and by your own admission, its common and should be expected. Its the responsibility of of the guardians to protect the children. I know its not intended, but like Al said, its all too common for people to ignore the dangers or be ignorant of the threats. Dangers that can multiply greatly when there's flooding and constant change on the rivers. I do think that the livery owners do have some obligation to at least attempt to discourage a trip on waters that have a high level of danger.

[strangercreek]

A few years ago I lost a canoe on the Niangua, early in the season, very high river, no "snags" cleared yet. I talked Ho Humm into renting a canoe before the season started. He was nice about it and only charged me an extra $25 after losing it and said it would turn up.

I lost all my gear and my shoes, had to walk down to NRO campground barefoot on the bank. I had thorns in my feet, the worst case of poison ivy I have ever experienced, and of course cuts from broken glass (thanks to all the littering morons, no excuse for that).

I see the small signs & markers on the river from time to time where someone has died. It is sad.

It was scary. People go down those rivers thinking they are completely harmless. They need to be respected....

Not to make light of this kid's death, as it is very sad and I feel sorry for the family.

[taxidermist]

Geez people its a wild river, read when and why it was established.

Next this was a freaj accident, for those who dont know Zed Davenport the Grandfather works for the Game and Fish Commision on Gene Rush. I know for a fact Josh has beenon the river many many times.

Its a sad fact this happened to someone with much river experience and not some of the idiots that visit and the fact they are LOCALS And not yeawhos , who were drinking and doing stupid things.

You cannot make water safe, you can only use care. Everyone who has ever floated the river more than once has dumped either by accident or on purpose. I too have been pinned under a canoe with a log and things happen you cannot plan for everything.

So by the same token you are putting lcanoe rental in the bad business catagory then you need to put the Corp of Engineers and your state game wardens in the same boat so to speak.

Taneycomo is unsafe as is Table Rcok, Bull SHoals and the whole chain right now.

Sounds like a LIBERAl has to put the bLAME ON SOMEBODY when its no ones fault. I have read the sheriff's report and everything was done that could have been done and its no ones fault it was an accident accept it , they happen.

Sad that Josh and his wife must live with this forever, thinking that maybe if they had done just one thing else Little Zed would be fine.

Rememebr Little Zed had a life jacket on too.

[taxidermist]

Hey one more thing yes the Buffalo National River was rated that day as fairly safe!!! Call the Newton County office and ask or call the BNR HQ in HArrison.

[soggyfeet]

You know I dont think the point of this post is to point blame at anyone. Regardless if it was the parents, the boys, the renting outfit, local authorities, or some spirtbeing it doesnt matter. The fact is that something terriable happened and there are family and responders that will have to live with this tragedy. Most of us on here will forget about this once we quit posting on it ( some wont like the people that know the family). So I have an idea, lets look at the situation see what happened and try and figure out how it can be prevented in the future. These stories scare the crap out of me being I have a young one and another on the way. The wife and I used to spend a lot of time floating and will continue to do so when the kids get old enough and I hope nothing like this will happen to anyone else but thats not the case. It will happen again but we need to do as much as we can to prevent it. Sitting around typeing about whos to blame is not the solution. I blame the log and the water thats what killed him. Ok now somebody try and figure out a way to sue the pants off the log and river. Anyway I getting off my box now and will start by giving a suggestion on how to stop these incidents.

My idea is why ait for the gov. to clean the streams. There are several org,s that could put together clean up events, and I just dont mean trash. Fishing clubs,boy scouts, heck even the serria club, and hunting clubs. I know some of these groups do some good for our public areas but just imagin if someone were to put all these groups together on one stream a yr the good they could do.

[strangercreek]

taxiderm and soggyfeet, both well said

There is definitely no specific blame. It was a freak accident and that is what people need to keep in mind. You should always use caution on the rivers (or any water) as you never know what can happen (this is something the crowds of drunks should keep in mind).

You have to be responsible for your own actions.

If you choose to be on the river when there are downed trees, you really should have some experience in a canoe also...which these people had, and still wound up in tragedy....

that just goes to show you....anything can happen