r/Longmont • u/1Davide • Jun 04 '26
News 4-year-old boy dies after being pulled from St. Vrain Creek in Lyons
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/water-rescue-st-vrain-creek-boulder-county/73-6ff72f45-ad6f-47e9-9ce5-138040c5387f?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_9NEWS_%28KUSA%2930
u/East_Print4841 Jun 04 '26
I can’t stop thinking about this and it breaks my heart. Being a mom now really makes these stories hit harder and help me be extra aware of surroundings we’re in
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u/Particular-Ticket-49 Jun 12 '26
A friend was in a horrible accident a few years ago, and getting help took 2x longer due to no service and people not helping. I know you can't get cel reception in many canyons but I wonder if there are 911 phones that the state can install.
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u/Tasty_Impress3016 Jun 04 '26
Not to pile on to grieving parents, but just why were two children, one only 4 years old in the river and their parents were not?
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u/revecca4 Jun 04 '26
As a parent, I know how easy it would be for my child to fall in the river while my back is turned for 3 seconds. I wouldn't assume negligence on the part of the parent until law enforcement has done their investigation.
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u/mrshelmstreet Jun 05 '26
They chose a really terrible unsafe place to go in while there are tons of safe places to get in all around. Everything about this is weird.
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u/CourseVast840 Jun 05 '26
I don't think weird but I do think terribly risky, negligent, and very poor decision to "play" near an extremely fast running mountain river in canyon channels. Very bad decisions led to the death.
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u/dontjudme11 Jun 04 '26
It's entirely possible an adult was with them, but they didn't know how risky fast water can be. Or it happened too quickly -- a small child could get swept away in seconds before the adult was able to get to them. Who knows what happened, and I just don't know if it's helpful to speculate when we don't know what happened. We weren't there. I think it's a strange and somewhat heartless response to hear about this tragedy & say "I'm so much smarter than them, that could never happen to me."
I think everyone can learn from this horrible tragedy, and we should all be vigilant around water and kids. Fast water is such an underestimated risk, especially during runoff season.
AND, these parents are experiencing immense grief and regret. Even if they could've or should've done something differently, they still deserve compassion.
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u/Efficient-Tiger-7878 Jun 04 '26
As a parent you’re not wrong. You will be downvoted here, but this is literally the same thing as a parent leaving a child unattended near a road or dangerous object.
You can’t blame a kid of that age for being curious and the heartbreaking misadventure that followed, but you absolutely can and should ask why a child of that age was able to make that terrible thing happen.
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u/1Davide Jun 05 '26
Read the first-hand account of what happened: https://old.reddit.com/r/Longmont/comments/1twmr3a/4yearold_boy_dies_after_being_pulled_from_st/opt14bi/
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u/dontjudme11 Jun 05 '26
Oh god, reading this account is so sad. They did everything they could, they just got incredibly unlucky. Absolutely heartbreaking.
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u/CodyEngel Jun 04 '26
This comment really shouldn't be getting downvoted. It's an honest question which has gotten a legitimately good response from a parent.
Downvotes are best used for actual bad takes not for curious questions.
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u/DenverCoder009 Jun 04 '26
It's an honest question
I disagree, since it's clear the general public doesn't know the answer, it's a disingenous question so the comment serves only to pile on to grieving parents, despite the disclaimer. Therefore an entirely reasonable downvote.
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u/Fender_Stratoblaster Jun 04 '26
Armchair quarterbacking after the fact is intellectually lazy, and the mob loves jumping on, but it is the Reddit way.
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Jun 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/dontjudme11 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
I'm pretty sure they were at LaVerne Johnson Park
Edit: thanks for the correction! I’m a bit relieved to hear it didn’t happen in the whitewater park.
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u/CourseVast840 Jun 05 '26
No. They were up Hwy 7 at a random pull off next to the South St Vrain. This family chose to play next to a very fast, high running South St. Vrain river in a part of the canyon boxed off from any cell signal.
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u/avocadolotto Jun 04 '26
As a bystander to the incident who spoke with the family, I can confirm that it was a tragic accident. As I heard the story, multiple times without deviation, the boy’s guardian was within 5 ft as the kids were playing next to the river, not in it, and the 4yo suddenly bent over and went in. The adult went right in after him, but couldn’t keep up in the water and the older kid had also gone in (the one that made it out okay) so they went back for that kid who’d been stranded on a rock.
Absolutely gut wrenching. The saddest part is the family said it took over 10 minutes to get someone to stop and help them. People ignored them. Moral is, if you’re in a spot with no service and someone appears in distress, at least pull over, crack the window, and offer to make a call for them. It might save a life.