AVP
03-12-2004, 05:12 PM
Source: Torres family spokesperson
AN OPEN LETTER TO DISNEYLAND
It has been only six months since our son, Marcelo, died on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland. A death caused by faulty maintenance, lack of safety procedures, lack of training, cost cutting measures and very serious safety violations that could have been prevented.
Only six months ago, we had Marcelo with us here, with his smile, his dreams, his plans and ambitions. Hopefully, people will not forget that this ride, the very same ride where the state investigators found a series of safety violations, is the one that killed our twenty two year old son. Our son suffered a horrible death in being crushed on his head and chest by the locomotive of that train causing broken ribs and massive internal bleeding.
Our son died at a place where you go to have fun and be happy, where you are supposed to feel safe. Our son indeed went to Disneyland for fun, with some friends, but he never came back to us. SAFETY?...Disneyland was not a safe place to go.
Now, Disneyland has decided to re-open Big Thunder Mountain and it has been all over the news. Business as usual...as we try to go on with our lives....but, we can't stop thinking "Why"? Why didn't they stop the train when it was making unusual clacking noise that Friday morning? How can work be signed off without being performed? It is unthinkable that Disneyland didn't even train its employees to maintain and stop the ride when they noticed unusual noises coming out of the train that day and days before. Why does the State need to order Disneyland to retrain its entire staff?
You may not understand the horrible pain that we are going through, the horrible pain of losing our son so tragically. The re-opening of this ride so quickly has only re-opened the wounds we have been trying to close over the past six months. Life is not always fair but you had the power to prevent this.
The life of Marcelo would start like a story of Walt Disney "Once upon a time, Marcelo was a happy boy that grew up in a happy family." Marcelo was always happy, quiet and loving. Marcelo always had kind words for other people, speaking of peace, his dreams and his plans ahead of him. He is not here anymore and we will never be the same again without him. Our families life has changed forever and we will now go through our whole lives with the emptiness of not having our son. You may not know how it is for a mother to feel the pain of not having her son on a daily basis. To cry everyday, feel the desperation of not having him. I want to see Marcelo's smile again, to hug him, and listen to his voice and laughter, see his beautiful smile. We look for answers so no other family need suffer like this.
You have re-opened that ride, where our son was killed, and we are only left with his pictures, beautiful memories of our life that now goes on without our beloved "Mars."
Jaime and Carmen Torres
AN OPEN LETTER TO DISNEYLAND
It has been only six months since our son, Marcelo, died on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland. A death caused by faulty maintenance, lack of safety procedures, lack of training, cost cutting measures and very serious safety violations that could have been prevented.
Only six months ago, we had Marcelo with us here, with his smile, his dreams, his plans and ambitions. Hopefully, people will not forget that this ride, the very same ride where the state investigators found a series of safety violations, is the one that killed our twenty two year old son. Our son suffered a horrible death in being crushed on his head and chest by the locomotive of that train causing broken ribs and massive internal bleeding.
Our son died at a place where you go to have fun and be happy, where you are supposed to feel safe. Our son indeed went to Disneyland for fun, with some friends, but he never came back to us. SAFETY?...Disneyland was not a safe place to go.
Now, Disneyland has decided to re-open Big Thunder Mountain and it has been all over the news. Business as usual...as we try to go on with our lives....but, we can't stop thinking "Why"? Why didn't they stop the train when it was making unusual clacking noise that Friday morning? How can work be signed off without being performed? It is unthinkable that Disneyland didn't even train its employees to maintain and stop the ride when they noticed unusual noises coming out of the train that day and days before. Why does the State need to order Disneyland to retrain its entire staff?
You may not understand the horrible pain that we are going through, the horrible pain of losing our son so tragically. The re-opening of this ride so quickly has only re-opened the wounds we have been trying to close over the past six months. Life is not always fair but you had the power to prevent this.
The life of Marcelo would start like a story of Walt Disney "Once upon a time, Marcelo was a happy boy that grew up in a happy family." Marcelo was always happy, quiet and loving. Marcelo always had kind words for other people, speaking of peace, his dreams and his plans ahead of him. He is not here anymore and we will never be the same again without him. Our families life has changed forever and we will now go through our whole lives with the emptiness of not having our son. You may not know how it is for a mother to feel the pain of not having her son on a daily basis. To cry everyday, feel the desperation of not having him. I want to see Marcelo's smile again, to hug him, and listen to his voice and laughter, see his beautiful smile. We look for answers so no other family need suffer like this.
You have re-opened that ride, where our son was killed, and we are only left with his pictures, beautiful memories of our life that now goes on without our beloved "Mars."
Jaime and Carmen Torres