When Accidents Happen

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Today, Cincinnati is mourning our 17-year-old gorilla, Harambe, who was shot when a little boy fell into his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Today, Cincinnati is not mourning the death of a 4-year-old boy who was killed by a gorilla when he fell into the enclosure.

Many have ugly things to say about the mother and her young son, but I have yet to see any opinions about her parenting based on truth, other than she also was at the zoo with other young children.

I see it this way…

Accidents happen. Sometimes horrifying accidents happen. Accidents like drownings, car wrecks, falls and all of these things can kill children. Yet, when these things happen, do we immediately default to blaming the parents? Do we say the awful things we are saying about this mother? Or do we seek to find compassion for a situation we hope to never be in ourselves?

I feel for her. Her small son was in a gorilla enclosure. I can only imagine how terrified she was. Thankfully, his injuries are not life-threatening. There could have been a different turnout and this mother could be mourning her child.

But most of all, I can see myself being this mother. I can’t understand why so many can’t. Has your child never done something they were explicitly asked not to? Never snuck away from your sight while you were tending to their sibling? Mine have.

As for me, I am offering compassion to this mom. She almost lost her son on Saturday. What if it had been me? Or my son? I would hope for compassion from others as well.


The team at Cincinnati Moms Blog offers our collective compassion to this little boy and his family. We can only imagine the emotions and trauma experienced by them during yesterday’s events and certainly into today and future days as well. We also offer our condolences and support to The Cincinnati Zoo for their loss and we offer them our support as they move forward in the days to come.

More information can be found through the official media statement of The Cincinnati Zoo and Thayne Maynard’s press conference from yesterday afternoon.

64 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you for writing such a compassionate blog in the middle of so much self righteousness and arrogance. I think many people respond the way the do out of one of two emotions. Either they are extremely self righteous, “This would never happen to MY child because I am a good parent”. Or they are very fearful, “I can’t admit this was an accident because then it might happen to my child. The mother is definitely irresponsible.” I wonder how self righteous we would all be if we knew our worst parenting mistake ever was going to be broadcast on the news right after this woman’s story. You know, the time you ran the stop sign but you weren’t hit by a car? You were lucky or blessed, depending on your worldview, but it could have been a tragedy. Or how about the time your toddler was just learning to do stairs and you left the basement door open. Once again, your story didn’t end up on the nightly news – but what if it had? I think if we are honest, most of us have a “worst parent ever” memory of something we did wrong that thankfully didn’t end in a tragedy. Would you want the whole world to judge your abilities as a parent by your personal worst moment?

  2. It is refreshing to read your perspective. The day after this happened I was reading some horrific comments. The zoo made the right call. You never risk the life a human. Life is precious and I can only imagine if that was my child. It is easy to judge but I agree with you. We should give the mother compassion. One comment I read in her defense was, “she was spending time with her children at the zoo. Bad mom’s don’t usually spend time like that with their children.”

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