Recently an 9 year old Dutch boy, Ruben van Assouw, was remarkably the sole survivor of an airplane crash in Libya. He joins a small but remarkable group of children who were the sole survivor of airplane crashes.
Best wishes to young Mr Assouw for a speedy recovery and also condolences on the loss of his family.
Out of respect for each of these somber stories I will post their entire stories without a jump. These photos and this content is strong and graphic.
Sole Survivor Children
photo.newsweek.com | May 2010
Brooklyn, 1960
On December 16, 1960, in cloudy conditions, a United Airlines flight and a TWA flight collided over Staten Island. One of the planes landed on the island, while another crashed in Brooklyn. The crash initially killed 83 passengers on the United plane, all 44 on the TWA flight, and six bystanders on the ground. At left, the wreckage of the United DC-8 remains in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood the day after the crash.
Stephen Baltz
Baltz, an 11-year-old from Wilmette, Ill., somehow lived through the crash when he was thrown from the United plane into a snowbank. Baltz was badly burnt and suffered smoke inhalation, but was conscious following the crash and gave an account to officials. Sadly, his injuries were too serious to survive and he died one day later in a Brooklyn hospital.
Romulus Michigan, 1987
As it took off from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 hit a light pole, taking off part of a wing and igniting a fire; the plane crashed in the suburb of Romulus. Two people on the ground and 156 on the plane died. At left, emergency vehicles are parked by the crash site.
Cecilia Cichan
Four-year-old Cecilia Cichan, who was traveling with her parents and brothers, survived the crash, although she was badly burnt. She is shown at the University of Michigan Medical Center in nearby Ann Arbor, recovering from her injuries, on October 9.
Vietnam, 1997
A Russian-made Tupolev owned by Vietnam Airlines flying from Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City to the Cambodian capitol Phnom Penh crashed on Sept. 3, 1997, when the pilot mistakenly put the plane down several hundred yards short of the runway, killing 65 people on board.
Toddler, unidentified
Doctors and nurses at a Phnom Penh hospital treat the lone survivor of the crash, a one-year-old boy.
Sudan, 2003
On July 8, 2003, a Sudan Airways Boeing 737 attempted to make an emergency landing at Port Sudan, killing 115. The company has since been banned from flying into European Union countries because of its bad safety record.
Mohammed el-Fateh Osman
The two-year-old, shown here cradled in the arms of a British nurse, survived the crash that killed his mother, although he was badly burnt and lost part of a leg.
Panama, 2007
A small Cessna carrying four Americans crashed in a remote jungle area near Chiriqui, Panama on Christmas Eve 2007 after encountering bad weather.
Francesca Lewis
It took rescuers two days to find the wreckage in a mountainous jungle area, but when they arrived, they found 12-year-old Francesca Lewis still alive, although suffering from hypothermia and a broken arm. At first, they could not evacuate her due to bad weather, but eventually they were able to reunite Lewis with her family. She is shown with her parents and sister in a Panama hospital on December 30.
Comoros Islands (near Mozambique), 2009
On June 30, 2009, a late-night Yemenia flight from Sanaa to Comoros missed on its airport approach, killing 152. At left, a U.S. Navy plane and a boat conduct a search for wreckage and survivors on July 3.
Bahia Bakari
Bahia Bakari, a 13-year-old French girl of Comoran descent, managed to survive the crash. Although she could not swim well and had no life vest, she clung to the plane’s wreckage for nine hours, bobbing in the Indian Ocean, before she was rescued. Her mother was killed. She is shown with the book she co-authored with a journalist about the crash, titled I Bahia, the Miracle.
Libya, 2010
The wreckage of Afriqiyah Flight 771 sits on the ground in Tripoli after crashing on May 12, 2010, killing 104. The cause has not yet been determined.
Ruben van Assouw
A Dutch boy, 9-year-old Ruben van Assouw, was the only survivor of the Tripoli crash. He is shown being treated in a Tripoli hospital.
The back story is that petite 16 year old Cammie was part of a 5 person team. If a Nantucket Sleigh Ride was what you took after you harpooned a whale that towed your tiny boat thru the water, I guess Cammie and company took a Sparkleberry Swamp Sleigh Ride.
Many people think hunting is unethical. However, rampant development nationwide has offset nature’s delicate balance and depending on where you live, coyotes, bears, deers or alligators may show up in your yard about the time Fluffy disappears.
White Knoll cheerleader bags ‘gator
JOHN MONK – jmonk@thestate.com | www.thestate.com | Thursday, Sep. 17, 2009
Cammie Colin is a typical high school student in many ways – cheerleader, softball player, enjoys algebra, loves to dance, likes singers Freddie Gomez and Lil Wayne.
Oh, and the White Knoll High 10th grader hunts alligators, too.
With a crossbow.
In the middle of the night.
Over the weekend, she became perhaps the youngest female ever to bag an alligator in South Carolina.
“Don’t be afraid, and just go at it,” she gave as her advice for young people who might want to hunt alligators or do some other unusual thing.
Colin, 16, said she’s still excited about the hunt, which took place about 3 a.m. Sunday in the dark headwaters of Lake Marion just south of Sparkleberry Swamp.
She is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds. The alligator she shot was 10 feet 5 inches long and weighed 353 pounds.
Tyler Maloney is a tough kid. I share his family’s relief he was not gravely injured. When Tyler says, ‘I could have died,’ he is absolutely right. Those inflatable ride are dangerous and kill more people than traditional rides. Want more info on how lucky Tyler is and info about rides in general? www.rideaccidents.com.
Tyler Maloney, 11, (center) was on an obstacle course bounce ride Saturday, June 27, afternoon in Goldman Park in Middletown when somehow the inflatable unit pulled away from the ground and blew end over end with Tyler hanging on. The Highview Elementary student suffered only bruises. Also at the park that day were his sister Brittany, 13; and brother Zach, 9.
image from www.kirotv.com
From middletownjournal.com
From middletownjournal.com
From middletownjournal.com
From cincinnati.com
From middletownjournal.com
An inflatable bounce ride obstacle course got loose with children still in it at about 3:41 p.m. Saturday, June 27, at Goldman Park in Middletown. One 11-year-old boy was taken to the hospital, and a few other children received minor injuries, according to Middletown police. From middletownjournal.com
Cell Phone Picture from www.local12.com
An inflatable bounce ride obstacle course got loose with children still in it at about 3:41 p.m. Saturday, June 27, at Goldman Park in Middletown. from www.middletownjournal.com
From middletownjournal.com
‘I could have died’ says boy on runaway inflatable
By Rick McCrabb, Columnist | www.middletownjournal.com | June 30, 2009
The Maloney family portrait — father, mother and three healthy children — nearly was shattered.
On Saturday, June 27, Chris Maloney, a board member on the Middletown Pee Wee Football League, was signing up players at Douglass Park, while a few miles away, his wife, Melissa, and two sons, Tyler, 11, and Zach, 9, were watching their sister, Brittany, 13, play in a girls fast-pitch softball tournament run by Young American Youth Advancement Services.
“It was a good day,” Chris Maloney said.
Then his cell phone rang with “shocking” news that turned his life upside down.
At 3:40 p.m., Tyler, a fifth-grader at Highview Elementary School, was sitting near the top of the inflatable slide monitoring children as they rode the ride at Goldman Park.
Wow, what a wonderful and amazing story. Tough kid.
The baby's fall on Friday, May 15, 2009 was broken by these shrubs at the base of this apartment building at 1300 Mississauga Valley Blvd. Image from CTV.ca
Mississauga toddler survives eight-story drop
By Chelsea Murray, National Post | May 15, 2009 | network.nationalpost.com
A toddler has survived an eight-storey fall from a Mississauga high-rise, Peel police said.
The boy fell from his mother’s arms today from a building at 1300 Mississauga Valley Boulevard.
“He had been in his mother’s arms on the balcony and he started wriggle to the point where she lost her grip on him,” said Cst. Marlene Murphy.
Peel police said the boy landed on some dense shrubbery directly below the balcony, and suffered from scratches and a broken nose, but remains in hospital for observation.
‘‘The shrubs essentially broke his fall, and that’s what essentially saved his life,’’ Const. J.P. Valade told CP24.
Rami Kandil, 14, was walking out of the building when he heard people screaming and saw the toddler’s grandfather searching through the bushes.
“I came down and he was searching through the bushes, then right when he grabbed the kid, that’s when he started crying,” said Rami, whose mother owns Danuta Cleaning Services, based in the same high-rise. “I’m guessing he was in shock or something.”
A group of people gathered around the boy — whose face was bleeding — looking “shook” and “in shock,” he added. “They were yelling like crazy too.”
Cst. Murphy said they’ve determined the fall was “a dreadful accident.”
Gee maybe keeping a 300 lb snake a 3 year old toddler in the same small apartment is NOT such a good idea.This giant snake fought 6 grown men after it had been stabbed repeatedly. THEN t took 6 people to carry the giant snake when it was dead. It’s so ludicrous it’s like an episode of Reno 911, where’s Niecy Nash yelling “HELL NO FOOL. GET THE GIANT SNAKE AWAY FROM THE BABY”
Las Vegas toddler survives 300 lb snake attack
Updated: Jan 22, 2009 | www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28802226
A Las Vegas toddler was pulled from the jaws of an 18-foot-long, 300 lb snake.
“That was the only thing I was thinking was I need to try and save this kid’s life,” neighbor Marlo Vinson said. Vinson was the first neighbor in the apartment complex to try and help the toddler’s mother free him from the snake’s grasp.
“That’s when I saw the 3-year-old on his knees with the snake constricted around him,” Metro’s Sergeant Steve Custer explained. “I’ve been a police officer for 36 years and I’ve never seen anything like this ever.”
Custer was one of the first officers on scene. “It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever seen, with a big old head and it’s angry and it’s hissing.”
The toddler’s mother told Metro that while she was in the bathroom, her son entered the bedroom where the snake was being kept. “The snake bit him, right here like in the armpit,” said Custer. ”
Panama, 2007
