Through No Fault Of His Own?
Jury selection got underway today in the wrongful death suit filed against Tommy Lee by the parents of a young boy who drowned at Tommy’s estate. In case you don’t remember, Tommy is in hot water over a swimming party he threw his son, Brandon, in June of 2001.
I have no special like or dislike of Tommy Lee, but I do think he loves his sons very much. I believe he was just trying to throw a cool party for his kid. I disagree with his choice of settings, but I find him in no way liable, certainly not criminally for the death of this child.
I can’t imagine the horror of losing a child in an accident such as this, but in the same turn I can’t imagine blaming the host because you sent your 4 year old child, who can’t swim, to a swimming party unattended…er wait, attended by a nanny who left the party early to go to a concert (allegedly). No 4 year old child of mine would go alone to ANY party especially a swimming party. For god’s sake, you can drown in two inches of water. In all fairness, hindsight is 20/20, but how can you blame Tommy Lee without accepting a portion of the blame yourself?
The parents contend there should have been someone trained in CPR present at the party, but the fact remains, CPR was attempted on the boy and he died anyway. There is no guarantee a fleet of lifeguards and medical staff on hand would have prevented this senseless death. To me, the real issue here is if the parents felt that strongly about the need for trained professionals to be on hand, shouldn’t the issue have been addressed BEFORE sending their son to attend the party?
When it comes to the safety of your children, you should never assume. We even run tv ads encouraging parents to ask who, what, where and when. I will grant you Tommy should have thought things through a little more carefully, but it is unfair to blame him solely when you are just as culpable. And before you tell me they weren’t there so they couldn’t be at fault, I would assert that is the very reason they are partially to blame.
The truth is, Tommy could have hired all the right people, the parents could have attended, the boy could have known how to swim, everything could have been done right, and Daniel Veres still could have drowned. All the philosophers and scientists and forward thinkers through the ages have never been able to tell us why bad things happen to good people. Simply put, shit happens. That doesn’t ease the sorrow or pain of the loss of a child and it doen’t make his death any less senseless, but honestly, do you think money will?