Accident Claims Family's Second Toddler

Nov 12, 2:46 PM EST
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Accident Claims Family's Second Toddler
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NEWRY, Maine (AP) -- The death of a 2 1/2-year-old boy who was run over by his father's pickup truck in a ski area was the second accident in four years in which the family lost a toddler.

James Bennett, 42, a Bethel Fire and Rescue worker, was doing maintenance work Sunday on a ski trail behind the Grand Summit Hotel when he sat his son, Wyatt, down on a wood pile while he moved his truck, state police said.

The boy wandered into the path of the vehicle and was crushed by one of its tires, investigators said. Wyatt was dead at the scene.

The family lost another son, 2-year-old Samuel, in 2003 following a freak accident in which he was struck by a tree that his father was cutting down at their house lot in Bethel, Fire Chief Michael Jodrey said.

"Obviously, everyone's hearts are going out to the family right now," Jodrey said. "I wouldn't wish this on somebody once, never mind twice."

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Yes, this is certainly a tragedy. That said, WHY in the WORLD would he take the child and set him on a woodpile, instead of taking the child and putting him in the truck cab with him?! I am really, really sorry this child has died, and I'm sorry the father will have to live with having run over his toddler. That said, does this guy not have common sense? He expected a child under the age of three to stay put, while he moved a tuck around. And I wonder what the details were in the accident that killed his first son? Where was the child when the tree was being cut down? And why was there any chance a tree being cut down by his father could strike him? Yes, it must be horrible for the father. But what about the two little boys! Their father's lack of judgement killed them...imo.

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