MJ's Take: Maine News Shouldn't Have Shared Video of Falling Girl

If you were anywhere near a phone, tablet, TV or radio yesterday, then you hear about what happened. An eight-year-old girl fell about 25 feet from a chairlift to the icy ground below from a chairlift that she was reportedly sharing with her mother.

I don't want to get down into the weeds of whether there were issues with the way the first responders appeared to handle the situation, I'm sure there will be an investigation into that. My problem is the way Maine media as a whole covered this.

Obviously, it's news and it needs to be reported on in real time. I work in media, I understand how this works. However, I also understand that every once in a while, especially when involving a seriously injured child, that discretion needs to be utilized. There was at least one Maine news channel that posted (and it's still up) the video of the moment the little girl fell from the lift to the ground. It's graphic. And, as a parent, gut-wrenching.

Here's where it gets a little bit tricky for me. If and when the girl is recovered or released from the hospital and news outlets want to share the graphic footage of what happened, go for it. Who am I to tell you what to do? However, this young lady, who was screaming for several minutes in pain, was then Life Flighted from the scene. We don't even know the extent of her injuries or if she's going to be okay. (At least at the time of writing this op-ed).

God FORBID something tragic happen to this precious little soul and the last memory that everyone has is the video of her falling and the sound of her hitting the ground. I'm just not okay with it, but that's just my opinion.

You don't have to agree with me, not even a little bit. And that's 100% okay and I respect your opinion, even if it's completely different than mine. I'm not here to change minds or make you feel or think a certain way. I just felt so strongly about this that I wanted to write about it this morning.

May God bless that little girl and her family during this tough time and we all hope she makes a full recovery!

If you're unfamiliar with what happened yesterday, below is the original story we carried that was written by Cooper Fox,

According to News Center Maine, an 8 year old girl fell off a chair lift at Maine's Sugarloaf Mountain on Wednesday afternoon.

When the lift operators noticed the girl, who was with her mother, was struggling, they stopped the lift. They were able to get a catch net in place before she fell, and the net did break her fall, but she ended up falling off the side of the net.

Staff at the mountain said she was concious following the fall of about 25 feet. An ambulance did come to the mountain, but she ended up being transported by LifeFlight.

In recent years, there have been several accidents at the ski area. In 2010, eight people were injured in a chairlift accident. And, on March 21, 2015 the King Pine quad chair experienced an issue that injured seven people, including three children.

According to Wikipedia, Sugarloaf Ski Area is located in the Western Maine town of Carrabassett Valley. It is the second largest ski area east of the Mississippi River, based on skiable terrain. It has 1,240 acres of trails. During the summer months, the mountain offers golfing, mountain biking, and hiking.

Read More: 8 Year Old Girl Falls Off Chair Lift At Sugarloaf | https://92moose.fm/8-year-old-girl-falls-off-chair-lift-at-sugarloaf/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

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