Alaina Pitton
Ok, this is just unreal. http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6245683
Alaina Pitton stumbled through a fence that ran along a 150-foot cliff.The family had stopped to snap a photo in Oregon’s Ecola State Park when, to the shock and fear of her mother, the toddler fell backwards through a wide opening in the fence.
“We were going to take a picture of the girls when they were standing against the railing,” said Alaina’s mother Charlotte Pitton. “Alaina just kind of stepped back.”
“If she would have stood back up,” Pitton said, “she would have been gone.”
But acting quickly, cousin Craig Wulfekuhle managed to grab the child before she fell down the cliff.
“Craig, our cousin from Iowa, had started to jump over the fence before Alaina finished falling,” Pitton said.
“It was so, so, so scary,” Alaina said. “I was shaking. My tummy was shaking. My head was shaking. My arms were shaking, my legs and my feet too.”
Pitton was relieved that her daughter suffered no serious injuries.
“After I got Alaina and she was crying and I was crying — I almost passed out,” Pitton said.
* “I was just thanking God,” she added. “It could have been her time, and he chose it wasn’t her time.”
Pitton said she has nothing but thanks and admiration for Wulfekuhle.
“Craig is the guardian angel. He really did save her life,” Pitton said. “It was truly a miracle and a blessing that he reacted so quickly.”
The first thing that went through my mind was “Why the fuck did you let three little girls get close enough to cliff that the potential for them falling off was very very real?”
My wife and I live a very open, tolerant, liberal life style. We allow our girls to do pretty much whatever they want. However the one issue with which we are not so care free is in the protection of our children. I don’t want to sit here and rip this mother apart after what she went through but I’m going to anyways.
First off, why were you not holding her hand? If you wanted a picture so bad why was there not an adult with them to hold there hands? Our daughters know to be constantly aware of their environment and to quickly examine their surrounding and analyze any potential dangers in the area.
They are very very street wise if you will. They know not to cross streets, not to open doors for people they don’t know, not to talk to people they don’t know, to hold our hands at all time once we get out of the car.
When we are outside of our house and yard they ALWAYS hold our hands until we enter whatever location we traveled to. They are NEVER out of our sight, not even for one second. As I’ve said many times before on this blog, life is short. The world, nature, is always trying to kill you. You must remain on guard and vigilant at all times.
You let your guard down just a little and what almost happened to Alaina Pitton could happen to anyone. Could you imagine the pain and guilt you would feel if your child died because you were too lazy to be cautious of your environment and to take the necessary precautions to ensure safety.
Thankfully Alaina Pitton’s great-cousin (?) was there to save her life.
* And to Charlotte Pitton: God did not choose not to take her. Your carelessness with regards to your child’s safety almost took her. I hope this incident wakes you up. Never take life for granted. Never take your or your child’s safety for granted.
My wife and I are in the middle of finishing up the repainting project on our living room when a Pat Benatar song came on the tv titled Christmas In America.