[AT] Tragic Tractor/Mower accident - Douglas, KS

[DBigdog]

I always hate to see something tragic like this.  It is so preventable.  But what really gripes me is that they are providing counseling to officers on the scene and contemplating charging the father.  There is no doubt he has suffered tremendously from his foolish act.  He, too, will need support and counseling as well as the officers.  I was an active EMT for 27 years and witnessed many foolish things that brought about the loss of young lives.  I don't know why people just can't see the stupidity of their acts sometimes.

Bigdog
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: G.Dombaugh 
  To: Antique tractor email discussion group 
  Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 1:35 PM
  Subject: [AT] Tragic Tractor/Mower accident - Douglas, KS



  Accident in Douglas, KS......
  This is why SAFETY should always be remembered no matter what you are doing round
  tractors and equipment.   Tragic accident happened here Saturday evening.
  Garrell
  Wichita, KS
  ___________________
  Mower death disturbs officials

  BY TIM POTTER

  The Wichita Eagle


  It's difficult enough for law enforcement and emergency workers to mentally process the death of 2-year-old Samantha Nichols of Douglass, Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy said Monday.

  On Saturday, Samantha died instantly after she fell off a tractor she was riding on with her father and was run over by a heavy-duty mower pulled by the tractor, Murphy said.

  Then, thinking of her father, Murphy said, "You can only imagine what this father is going through."

  Sheriff's investigators were still trying to learn exactly how the girl was situated on the tractor and how she fell.

  Her father, Christopher Nichols, was cutting weeds with a smaller, older Ford tractor pulling the mower, the sheriff said. The accident occurred about 8:20 p.m. Saturday near a barn at the family's home, on a shady street on the edge of town.

  The family has declined to comment to reporters.

  Authorities had initially said that Samantha was 13 months old, then corrected themselves Monday. She recently turned 2, Murphy said.

  With investigators still gathering facts, he said, it is too early to comment on whether any charge could be filed. An autopsy was to be conducted.

  Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield said Monday that there does not appear to be any intentional conduct on the part of the father. It appears to be an accident.

  "I understand, certainly, that he's suffering," she said of the father.

  A key legal question that has yet to be answered, Satterfield said, is whether there is evidence of any "extreme indifference" or recklessness that could possibly constitute a crime.

  It would be up to the Sheriff's Department to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that such a crime occurred.

  The deaths of children are always among the most disturbing cases. But in his nearly three decades in law enforcement, Murphy said, he has never encountered another accident like the one Saturday night.

  He told his deputies and other emergency workers who responded to the scene that they would be provided counseling, if they wanted it, to help them cope.

  "It is upsetting," Murphy said. "It affected all of us, including me."if ignored...   


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