Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Jason Silveira Survives Impalement From Manure Spreader But Tatiana's Victim (Carlos Sousa) Was Not So Fortunate -by Legal Pub


California can be hazardous to your health. Skin cancer? No, this is not an article about wearing sunscreen. Let's instead examine the case of a young boy named Jason Silveira. Jason, son of Ron and Candi Silveira was impaled by a manure spreader on a Fresno County farm. His grandfather was apparently operating the machine when the young boy fell off the machine. Steel prongs penetrated his body. The injuries to his chest and neck and head were awful. While the accident and the injury truly stink, fortunately, Jason is making a fantastic recovery and should have little to no permanent impairment. By next year, it is anticipated that Jason will be back to playing soccer. This Christmas he is feeling very fortunate. However, other victim of California mishaps are apparently not quite as lucky.

Something about this next story also smells. The San Francisco Zoo became a place of terror this week. Police shot and killed a 300 pound tiger who escaped from its cage and attacked three people. Fire Department Lt. Mindy Talmadge provided details to the press. Victims were taken to San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Eric Isaacs said the two injured men, ages 19 and 23, were in serious but stable condition. Most of the wounds were to the head and neck according to Dr. John Brown. The third victim apparently died at the zoo from fatal wounds.

"Apparently right around closing time -- there was a pen with four tigers in it -- one of the tigers got out," Talmadge said. "The tiger went into a cafe at the zoo and attacked a patron. That person ended up dying at the scene."

The tiger was a 300-pound female named Tatiana. Robert Jenkins could not explain how the tiger got out, since the enclosure has a 15-foot moat and 20-foot walls. According to The San Francisco Chronicle, Tatiana is the same tiger that chewed the flesh off a keeper's arm in an attack last December. ( The zoo keeper was believed to be Lori Komejan.) Tatiana was four years old.

Update 12-27: The 17-year-old boy killed by a tiger was Carlos Sousa of San Jose. Police are investigating whether someone helped the tiger escape. The area of the zoo has been deemed a crime scene according to San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong.

Update 12-28: Their are conflicting reports as to whether the tiger was being teased. There apparently is no doubt that standards require a protective wall over 16 foot high and this wall was only 12 and a half! The zoo will be increasing security and the investigation will continue.

Update 3-22-10: Due to spamming, any future comments on this thread must be emailed to legalpub@legalpub.net. They will be reviewed and added accordingly.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

California is not all that bad!

Ron said...

I have been to this zoo often and never thought the animals could get beyond the moat and walls. This is a strange story, since it is right around the one year anniversary of Tatiana attacking her zoo keeper. What could it be about Christmas that makes a tiger go crazy like this?

Anonymous said...

I don’t see it as a tiger “going crazy”. It’s more like a tiger “going home”. Tigers are not like dogs, pack animals genetically programmed to run in packs governed by a ranked command structure topped by an Alpha. Rather, they are usually solitary predators with large territories.

They are the top of the food chain and eat what they want (and can catch) within these large areas. It’s not normal for them to be caged within a small area and not hunt and kill what they want to eat.

I don’t see it as crazy. Well, no more crazy than my four large dogs attacking any stranger who comes into “their” yard. They’re animals pre-programmed to do this.

It’s what they do.

The tiger did what it does.

It went home. Back to the wild.

You can take the animal out of the wild, but you can’t take the wild out of the animal.

May God show favor to all involved, including that beautiful beast.

L.S.

Anonymous said...

Something is up. The Zoo is being treated as a possible crime scene. There may be more to this story...

Legal Pub said...

Update 12-27: The 17-year-old boy killed by a tiger was Carlos Sousa of San Jose. Police are investigating whether someone helped the tiger escape. The area of the zoo has been deemed a crime scene according to San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong.

Legal Pub said...

Our hearts should go out to the family. Christmas has been scarred for this poor family.

Marilza Sousa put a photograph of her son on the family Christmas tree. She said she'd never be able to celebrate Christmas again.

"Our Christmas is with him," she said. "No more Christmas."

Carlos Sousa, R.I.P.

Anonymous said...

Save that tiger. Save that tiger...

Oops too late.

Anonymous said...

Jason Silveira was injured last month at a farm in Strathmore after being impaled by a manure spreader.His grandfather turned on the machine not realizing Jason was sitting on the back.

Jason was impaled by three metal rods. One went through his neck and through his temple. Doctors say there are a million ways that could have killed him or left him permanently damaged. Amazingly this Christmas Jason is on his way to a full-recovery.

After four surgeries and three weeks at Children’s Hospital 10 year old Jason Silveira went home for the holidays.

Anonymous said...

It STINKS that a grandfather will forever be remembered as impaling his grandson with a manure spreader.

Legal Pub said...

Update 12-28: Their are conflicting reports as to whether the tiger was being teased. There apparently is no doubt that standards require a protective wall over 16 foot high and this wall was only 12 and a half! The zoo will be increasing security and the investigation will continue.

Legal Pub said...

The surviving victims are two brothers:Paul, 19, and Kulbir, 23. Their last name is Dhaliwal and they are being treated at San Francisco General Hospital with severe bite and claw wounds.

The tiger killed Carlos Sousa Jr. as he tried to save Kulbir Dhaliwal from the tiger according to family members.

Legal Pub said...

Video of a two year old girl who ran a screw driver into her brain is located at:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2007/12/28/demars.mn.screwdriver.in.head.kare

Legal Pub said...

To my knowledge the surviving victims Paul, 19, and Kulbir Dhaliwal, 23 have yet to give a formal statement.
Since Carlos Sousa Jr. is dead, he can make no statement. While there is speculation of teasing the tiger with slingshots etc, this all remains speculation until all of the facts become public.Furthermore, to my knowledge no toxicology study has been released on any of the victims.
Consequently, one would caution readers to not form any conclusions until all of the facts become public. Now is the time for the family to mourn Carlos Sousa Jr.'s death and to respect the privacy of the family.

Anonymous said...

Impalement v. Malling by Tiger...

Worlds worst injuries!