Wisconsin Lawmaker Drives Over Granddaughter

[woo me with science]

Source: The Guardian

Wis. Lawmaker Drives Over Granddaughter

Friday July 13, 2007 10:31 PM


GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - A state senator accidentally drove over his young granddaughter Friday, killing her, the senator said in a statement.

Sen. Dave Hansen said he was leaving to attend a meeting when his granddaughter ran out of the house and got behind his car. Hansen said neither he nor his wife knew the girl had run outside.

The girl, Elliana Zaidel, was to have turned 2 on Wednesday.

Hansen said he is in deep shock and attending to the needs of his family.

The accident happened at Hansen's home in Green Bay at about 8:40 a.m. The toddler was sitting on a sofa when her grandmother left the room to get a blanket so the two could snuggle after the senator left for his meeting, said Jay Wadd, the senator's chief of staff.

The girl then ran outside.

``It happened that fast,'' Wadd said. ``I think Ellie wanted to be with grandpa. She just loved him.''

Green Bay Police Lt. Mike Graham issued a statement calling the girl's death a ``tragic, unfortunate accident. There are no pending criminal charges.''

Zaidel is the daughter of Paul and Cathy Zaidel of Stiles, a tiny town just north of Green Bay, Wadd said. Hansen and his wife have baby-sat the girl for about a year while her parents worked.

A 59-year-old Democrat, Hansen has been in the state Senate since 2001. He has three daughters and seven grandchildren, according to his official biography.

A tan car with a door ajar sat halfway down Hansen's driveway late Friday morning as police investigators took measurements at the scene.

Neighbor Mike Maloney said neighbors comforted a distraught Hansen and his wife, Jane.

``I just can't imagine it happening. It's terrible,'' Maloney said.





Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6778477,00.html

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This is so sad. I can't imagine what this family is going through.

[iconoclastic cat]

1. That is fucking horrible. nt

[dipsydoodle]

2. ditto

It hard to know what to say at such times.

[rubberducky]

3. I cannot even begin to imagine thier pain.

[DesertRat]

4. what a terrible tragedy

:cry:

[silverojo]

5. Adults, PLEASE watch your kids every SECOND

That would help prevent tragedies like this one. That poor man, having no idea the child was behind him.... :cry:

[Binka]

6. OMG What A Horrible Thing To Endure

:cry:

[MaineDem]

7. This must be devastating for the Senator

How very tragic!

[truthisfreedom]

8. How awful. These kinds of stories rip my guts out. I'm so glad I have back-up alarms on my car

that detect anything behind my mini!

[Branjor]

9. How awful....

I can barely imagine the pain.

Binka's little kitty looks sort of like a one year old girl skipping along.

:cry:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

10. Of all the horrible things that can accidentally happen

THIS is my worst nightmare.

My heartfelt condolences and prayers for this family in their hour of tragedy.

[juajen]

11. I am so devastated for that family.

Please, everybody, keep latches high up on all outside doors. My twin sons loved to play hide from Momma outside; so, we installed simple latches at the top of the door. Of course, living in trying times, I almost always locked the deadbolt and hid the key. But for the grace of God, any of us could be suffering as this family is. It is impossible to keep up with children all the the time.

[mikelgb]

12. heart wrenching

[Lone_Star_Dem]

13. My neighbor ran over his son.

It happened before he moved here. This is the sort of thing you never fully recover from.

[nealmhughes]

14. On the 4th of July here in town, a man was shooting off the large "cannon" fireworks.

He ensured his 7 year old son was 10 yards away as the directions indicated and placed the cannon on a flat stable surface (wooden picnic table). The family dog became frightened from the sizzling fuse and with panic, knocked the table setting the cannon on its side, where it discharged right at the boy, hitting him with the full burst in the chest and causing instant death from chest trauma.
Absolutely horrible. Like the Seantor's granddaughter's death.

[pitohui]

15. jesus sorry to hear it

things like this are why i get so peeved off at people saying "praise the lord," as far as i'm concerned, the lord does nothing but set traps for us this time of century

[Ilsa]

16. God this is horrible. We are totally paranoid about this sort of thing.

Even though the kids are older, we are extra careful about locking the door behind us when leaving so no one can run out to the care when we are leaving. We also are extra careful about pulling up into the driveway. Still, accidents happen, and I feel only sorrow for this family. It is so sad, I can't tell my husband as he could easily start crying over the thought of it. I hope this family can find some peace.

[roguevalley]

17. A horrible nightmare he will never wake up from, poor man.

[driver8]

18. OMG -- that is horrible.

I feel so sorry for that poor man...I don't know if I could live with something like that.

[emmadoggy]

19. Oh, God. My heart breaks for this poor family. What a horrible tragedy.

Reading stories like this just rips my heart out. I have twins who are now 5 1/2 years old and most people think I am quite over-protective (which I probably am), but holy crap, it's stories like these that run through my head all the time and I just can't bring myself to be relaxed about safety.

I can't imagine the horror of this kind of accident. :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[DianaForRussFeingold]

20. What a nightmare! I feel so sorry for him and his family,

:-( I can't sleep after reading about this. what a horribly unlucky Friday the 13th for them :cry: Every year thousand of children and adults are killed as a result of vehicles backing into these victims. Most back up accidents involve children under the age of 5 and elderly persons over 60 yrs. of age. These backing up deaths occur in SUVs, passenger cars, trucks and commercial trucks as well. KIDS AND CARS maintains a national database tracking deaths and injuries to children. Currently no federal or state agency is collecting information related to deaths and injuries that occur as non-traffic incidents on private property.


Kids And Cars
"Bye Bye Syndrome"
: http://www.kidsandcars.org There was a bill before the Senate 'Sponsored by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) & Sen. John Sununu (R-NH)'making complete rear visibility standard 'Video from Today show May 4th: http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=82a7e6a3-8d69-43de-bf5d-de65e2932e2d&f=05&fg=rss Kids and Cars is a very informative site for children's safety :grouphug:

[Wcross]

21. My deepest sympathy to the whole family.

I hope he doesn't blame himself for this terrible accident. I hope he is surrounded by good friends and family.