Milton family calls for safety changes after daughter Cassidy Murray was killed in tubing accident in Aruba
MILTON - A Milton family is speaking out about the need for safety changes after their 13-year-old daughter Cassidy Murray was killed in a tragic tubing accident in Aruba last year.
"For us as parents to go on vacation somewhere we thought was safe and come home without our daughter, we're trying our best so it never happens again," said her mother Linda Murray.
Cassidy and her father, Dave, took the ride with Fun 4 Every 1 Watersports, but five minutes into the excursion she was thrown into the water. As the driver of the boat hauling the tube came around to get her, Dave Murray says the driver lost control.
"He hit the throttle and went into full throttle. At this stage Cassidy was starting to swim towards the raft to get back on. The boat came around full speed and hit her on the back of the head. She disappeared under the boat," said Dave Cassidy. "For a father to witness that is something no parent should have to witness. I had to beg him to help get her into the boat."
For the last 14 months, the Murrays have been pleading with the government of Aruba to make safety changes to their beachfront watersports, even meeting with the prime minister, who their attorney said made empty promises about having them involved.
"Repeatedly, we were never given the opportunity to participate in any meetings and have no reason to believe any of this was taken seriously," said attorney Jeff Catalano.
"We're so frustrated at the lack of concern and prioritization. We keep hearing the same thing over and over again, it's 'nothing solid,' it's 'we're going to,' it's 'we're in the process,'" said Linda Murray.
The Murrays are pushing for spotters on the boats as a second set of eyes. Congressman Stephen Lynch is now intervening on their behalf and may push for a State Department travel advisory. "Sometimes it's not an unwillingness but a bureaucracy that gets in the way. So sometimes you have to put the shoulder to the wheel to get things done," said Lynch.
The Murrays say what they're proposing is low cost and common sense. "It's something that should have been done day one, before day one. It feels like a disregard for human life," said Dave Murray. In their daughter's name, the Murrays are channeling their grief so no one else will have to experience it.