"God protect us with your hand; Bring us safely to our destiny."

[claidheamhmor]

This poor 4-year-old boy was involved in a quad bike accident, and messed up his face badly.

Boy, 4, in horror quad crash
13/11/2008 22:51 - (SA)

Pretoria - All the bones in a four-year-old boy's face have been shattered and his skull fractured after he drove into a brick wall with his quad bike at full speed.

Derik van Heerden jnr from Mountain View to the north of the city is in a serious condition in the Eugène Marais Hospital.

The accident happened on Tuesday afternoon in Ayres Street, five houses down the road from his parents' home. He was not wearing a crash helmet.

His mother, Debbie van Heerden, 27, said some of the bones which had been crushed pushed inwards through his sinuses, right up to his brain.

"The doctor said if it doesn't seal of its own accord within the next few weeks and if brain fluid doesn't stop draining, he will have to undergo a very serious operation.

"The doctors have already inserted a plate to cover the fracture in his skull."

Derik jnr did not injure his brain, back or neck.

Van Heerden said her husband, Inspector Derik van Heerden snr, 32, a policeman, recently bought himself a quad bike.

"Little Derik wants to do everything his dad does; he wants to be like his dad. He even wants to be a policeman.

"He cried and kept on nagging that we should buy him a bike too.

"On Tuesday my husband went and bought a 50cc quad bike at a small second-hand shop."

They would have gone riding at the stream near their home on Tuesday afternoon, but she still had work to do and told Derik jnr they couldn't go.

"He begged his father to show him outside in front of the house how the bike worked. My husband showed him how to start it and where everything was.

"He then started riding slowly down the road with my husband walking next to him. They were heading for my sister-in-law's house.

"I suspect that he, in his excitement, accidentally pressed the petrol button in deeper and the bike started to accelerate.

"My husband ran after him, but couldn't catch up."

"He shouted 'Daddy, help me!', but my husband couldn't get to him. I never thought a bike made for such small children could be so fast," Van Heerden said.

His aunt, Marcia Strauss, was in her house when she heard the scream. She ran outside and as she reached her gate, saw Derik hit the brick wall face on.

The Van Heerdens immediately jumped in their car and rushed their son to hospital.

"Whereas we have received more than 200 SMSes and calls from people who say they are praying for us, there are some who blame us.

"This morning someone said they had no sympathy for me and people should not pray for my child. They said people like me were shit," Van Heerden said.

"My husband and I are crying all the time. It was really an accident."

Source: News24

Now, it's fairly obvious that the parents were somewhat irresponsible - letting a 4-year-old on a 50cc machine (you need to be 16 to get a 50cc licence) on a public road without any safety gear was really daft. Terrible accidents do happen due to misjudgements though; I can understand that. We've all been stupid at one time or another.

What really, really irked me, though, was hearing the poor boy's aunt on the radio this morning saying that "it was God's will".

No, it wasn't God's will - unless you believe in a God who likes maiming children. It was a pathetic attempt to shift the blame from the parents to some other entity.

Then there was a soundbite from the boy's mother saying God was protecting her son, or something along those lines. Yeah, sure it was.

Really: take responsibility for your own damn actions. Yes, it might hurt to admit that you were responsible. Deal with it, and stand up for your own actions. Learn from it, and help others learn from it. It's the right thing to do.

Comments

[lyonza.livejournal.com]

I have no words. But you're right - not "God's will" anywhere there. *sigh*

[teaser.livejournal.com]

If there was a "God's will" there wouldn't be stupid parents!!

[pcb.livejournal.com]

I rather like the Muslim saying: "trust in God - but tie up your horse/camel first".
As you say: take responsibility for your circumstances.
A 4-year old on a bicycle is a dodgy enough prospect, let alone something powered.
Reminds me of an action minded (read faintly reckless) guy I used to work with. He decided he'd try his son - older than 4, I admit, but not a teenager by a long chalk - in his car in their drive way. He stood with his hand on the ignition through the open window of the car so that he could pull the key out if things went too fast.
As you might notice, ignition keys don't pull out when the engine's running and trying to stop a Volvo, I think it was, with a thumb and forefinger is only for Superman.
Fortunately, the front steps of the house stopped the car and it hadn't got much speed up. He was also brave (reckless) enough to share the stupidity afterwards.

[ihlanya.livejournal.com]

Thought that was a Jewish saying? Hmm.

At any rate, it all makes sense to me now. Devon's constant trips to accident & emergency are NO reflection on my parenting skills and are thus An Act Of God.

Wonder if I should sue the fucker?

[pcb.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't THAT be a laugh?

Sue... hmmm I think somebody tried. Didn't Tom Hanks, or one o'that crowd, do a movie?

[magependragon.livejournal.com]

Eli Stone sued God in the first series.

[pcb.livejournal.com]

Thank you kindly <nods>

'One o'that crowd' - an actor.

[ihlanya.livejournal.com]

Or maybe it was Billy Connelly in the Man Who Sued God

[pcb.livejournal.com]

He's certainly not one o'that crowd then.
The Big Yin is a whole crowd in his self.

[kennitalternity.livejournal.com]

This was exceptionally bad judgment. I have rode a lot of off road bikes and ATV's, I don't care how small they are, they are designed for speed. One of my friends had a 50cc dirt bike and it could reach 50 mph / 80 kph. I can't imagine letting a four year old on one, they are not made for children.

Later

[magependragon.livejournal.com]

Right now this rides up there with the "God put it there" card that people like to pull with an unexpected pregnancy. God, should he/she/it exist in any form that actually care about us, I am sure he/she/it had better things to do than raise the children we are supposed to be responsible for.

Why is the father not sued for reckless endangerment? What if his kid had hit a person and not the wall? (Sad as it is that the kid is hurt.)

[jadedflame.livejournal.com]

unless you believe in a God who likes maiming children.
LOL, This made me laugh... You gotta watch out for the Children-Maiming-Deities (CMDs), those bastards can be vicious!! :)

But I totally agree, rather get the 4 year old a bicycle and when he's much older you can get him a quad bike.
And more importantly, they really should at least recognise where the blame needs to be put, and see that they were at least a little bit responsible!

[pcb.livejournal.com]

gods maim in a mysterious way?