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Mom-Blogger Under Fire For The Tweet Heard ‘Round the World
6 Comments | Posted by Sarah in Shellie Ross, death, parenting
I have a Twitter account, but I hardly use it. I wouldn’t mind taking the extra fourteen-and-a-half seconds a day to update my every action, but my life is just so jam-packed that I can’t really spare the minute seconds. Oh, and also, I don’t want to be one of those people who report every action of their day, i.e., taking a constitutional, checking the mail or bitching about the slow speed of the grocery store’s cashier.
A Florida woman has taken her Twitter devotion a step further. From the hospital, Shellie Ross reported that her son had fallen into the pool and requested prayers from her followers. A mere nineteen minutes later she found out that her child didn’t make it.
Authorities report that the emergency call came in at 5:23 PM from Ross’s son reporting that the three year-old child was found at the bottom of the nearby pool. The child, after taken to the local hospital, was pronounced dead at 6 PM. The investigating Sheriff was on the telephone with the woman when she found out that the child had not survived — the Sheriff claims that she could be heard screaming “No!” through the phone.
The child’s funeral is expected to happen next week.
I am horrified by what this woman is going through. All finger-pointing aside (a lot of online communities and media outlets have done enough of it as it were), this is a mother going through a complete and utter tragedy. On her blog, www.blog4mom.com, she has on many occasions stated how important being a mother was in her eyes. Many individuals may want to — and are — insinuating that had the mom spent less time on the Internet, maybe the child would still be alive. Police investigators have negated those notions and state that the mother played no part in the child’s death, possible neglect or otherwise.
I look at my two year-old daughter and hold her a little tighter and thank God in an utterly selfish way that this wasn’t me, this wasn’t us. But then I feel sickened that it had to be someone, anyone, enduring this horrific tragedy. This poor mother should be left alone by the media and by the public’s prying, accusing eyes. My most sincere prayers go out to this woman and her family; the road will be a long one toward healing but hopefully with the proper kind of support, the road will be a little less rocky to navigate.
This is horrifying. I can’t imagine what she must be going through.
That being said, *and I absolutely understand that this is an utter tragedy and I totally sympathize with her* who Twitters their son’s death? I’m sorry, but if it had been my child, I would be in such a devasted state that I wouldn’t even be able to function, let alone update my freaking Twitter. I am inclined to agree with Ms. McGraw, I would have wanted to know for sure that the woman’s twitter hadn’t been hacked, because honestly, that’s not a thing you usually see. Also, the time frame in which all this happened baffles me. In less than an hour, she was updating her twitter status when she was more than likely sitting by her dying child’s side. Who does that? Granted, she was asking for prayers, but I would be too involved with praying myself. I definitely wouldn’t have the wherewithall to post a status update.
Also, I’m sorry, but “remembering my million dollar baby” is just NOT appropriate to me. It was a mere 5 hours after her 2 year old passed. It’s as though she’s already come to terms with her his death. Wtf??? I just don’t understand this at all. What mother who’s just lost a child has the composure to tweet?
Maybe I’m just being overly dramatic about this, but I just don’t get it. I can’t even begin to imagine what she’s going through right now. The thought of losing a child sickens me. I’ll definitely be keeping her in my prayers, but I’m still just so confused by this.
It’s very possible that this woman is turning to the internet for comfort over her son. Everybody grieves in different ways and we can’t judge them for how they choose to do so.
Yeah, that’s my thinking, too. I can’t begin to tell you what I would do if my young son died, because I have never had to deal with anything even remotely that tragic in my life. I might jump off a building in grief, I might laugh hysterically, I might Twitter. I have no idea, and I’m not about to judge.
I honestly didn’t mean for my post to sound judgemental. I’m just trying to understand it all. I don’t even want to begin to fathom trying to deal with that. I am just trying to figure it out. I guess there’s nothing to figure out; she’s just trying to deal with it. Sorry if I came off as not having a heart. I do. I promise. :)
I think some people just get accustomed to working out all their personal issues over their blog/twitter/LJ/facebook/etc. Up to and including loss. Some people feel a community of the internet at least as strong or more than in person, and reach out to their internet following for support.
If it seems to work, then I guess I can’t really argue.
I think anyone who does twit their child’s death should really expect some attention, but it is also reasonable to tell the media to grow a heart.
Personally, I can’t imagine opening up the details of my life to the world like that. Or wanting to. But to each his own.
But – she would have been reaching out to her small network, her personal community. There is no way that she could have imagined that people’s own discomfort and horror at the death of a toddler would morph into vilification of her.