Christmas Tragedies And Christmas Miracles

Girl Dies in Christmas Parade Accident AP
posted: 14 DAYS 8 HOURS AGOcomments: 348filed under: National News

BEAUMONT, Texas (Dec. 7) - A trailer carrying children in a Christmas parade struck and killed a 10-year-old girl who had jumped out of a pickup truck driving among the floats Saturday, police said.
The girl had been jumping on and off during the parade route and was told to stop before falling and hitting her head, said Monica Smith, a Beaumont police dispatcher. The girl was then struck by the trailer behind her.
A number of parade watchers saw the accident unfold, Beaumont police officer Crystal Holmes told Beaumont television station KBMT.
Authorities said the girl was taken to a hospital with severe head injuries and pronounced dead.
Smith did not have any details about what group the girl was with in the parade.
Stephanie Molina, who attended the parade but didn't see the accident, said the city had considered canceling the Christmas parade this year because of the destruction wrought to the area by Hurricane Ike. Molina works for the city's convention and visitor's bureau.
"We decided to do this for the community because we needed something positive," she said.
Hundreds attended the parade in downtown Beaumont. The grand marshall was former Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett, a native of nearby Port Arthur who was temporarily paralyzed from the neck down while attempting to make a tackle in a game last season.
The Christmas parade accident was the second this week in Texas. Ten members of a Cub Scout troop in Overton were injured Monday when they were struck by a pickup truck. The 82-year-old driver was charged with reckless driving.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-12-07 01:18:19

Ernest Coleman, The Enquirer / AP
A sign outside the Crossroads Community Church in Cincinnati advertises the Christmas show that turned fatal for one young actress.

Christmas Show Actress Falls to Her Death
By TERRY KINNEY, AP
posted: 2 DAYS 5 HOURS AGOcomments: 407filed under: National News

CINCINNATI (Dec. 18) - An actress in a Christmas pageant who was suspended 25 feet in the air by an overhead rope fell headfirst onto a concrete church floor and died, authorities said Thursday.
Keri Shryock, 23, and two other performers were playing wise men on their way to Bethlehem before about 2,000 spectators during Wednesday night's opening performance at Crossroads Community Church.The three were approaching a star when Shryock fell into an aisle in the audience portion of the theater, witnesses told The Cincinnati Enquirer.
"Toward the ending of the song she came loose," Daniel Doepke, 55, of Middletown, told the newspaper. "I can't describe how heart-wrenching it was, her fall to a hard concrete surface."
Shryock was taken to University Hospital, where she died Thursday morning. A hospital spokesman declined to describe her injuries.
Cincinnati police were assisting the Hamilton County coroner in an investigation, a police spokeswoman said.
There was no immediate explanation of how the accident occurred, or if there was an equipment failure.
"Our prayers and heartfelt sympathies go out to her family during this incredibly difficult time," the church said in a statement. "We are shocked and deeply grieved by this tragic accident."
Shryock, from Sylvania, Ohio, near Toledo, graduated from Bowling Green State University this year.
Melissa Davish, a friend and former gymnastics club teammate at Bowling Green, said Shryock had become a surprisingly good gymnast since taking up the sport only two years ago and was excited about performing the rope act.
"She wasn't scared of anything," Davish said. "It's a strange coincidence. I can see her saying, `I'm a gymnast, I can do that.' She was really excited about doing something that unique."
No one involved with the production would be available to talk about the staging, which the church characterized as a contemporary Nativity story, said church spokesman Matt Chandler.
"It was a figurative and artistic version of the Christmas story found in the book of Luke," he said.
Ten remaining performances of the show "Awaited" were canceled. The nondenominational church held an evening of prayer, reflection and worship Thursday night.
About 1,100 people attended the prayer session, said church spokeswoamn Natalie Hastings.
"There was a sense of grief in our community and a need to gather," Hastings told The Enquirer. "This was a way for people to come together and be reminded what God has done for us, even as we are dealing with something that we're having trouble processing."
The church also planned to provide grief counseling for those who witnessed the fall.
The mega-church was founded in 1996 and has grown to a membership of about 10,000, Chandler said. It is known for dramatic and musical presentations at weekend services.
The church's Web site said "Awaited" was seen by more than 20,000 people when it first was presented last year.
Shryock was employed as an assistant in the Office of Commuter Services and Off Campus Living at Xavier University in Cincinnati.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-12-19 00:03:14

The families involved in both of these tragedies definitely need our thoughts and prayers during this season for families---but on a somewhat better note though still prayer-worthy---here are some Christmas miracles:

Girl's Santa Letter Leads to Man's Arrest AP
posted: 5 DAYS 5 HOURS AGOcomments: 0filed under: Crime News, National NewsPrintShareText SizeAAAPHARR, Texas (Dec. 15) - A Texas man has been arrested after a 9-year-old girl wrote to Santa Claus asking that a relative stop touching her and her sister.
The Monitor of McAllen reports that Andres Enrique Cantu, from the town of Pharr, was arrested Friday and is in the Hidalgo County jail.
A criminal complaint says the girl turned the letter in at Cesar Chavez Elementary School. Authorities interviewed the girl after a school counselor reported the letter.
The complaint says investigators believe the molestation occurred over a period of four years.
Cantu is charged with continuous sexual abuse of a young child and could face as many as 99 years in prison if convicted.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-12-15 22:27:02

Texas Boy Survives Near Decapitation
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posted: 3 HOURS 46 MINUTES AGOcomments: 144filed under: National News, Weird NewsPrintShareText SizeAAA(Dec. 21) - A Hillsboro, Texas, boy who suffered an "orthopedic decapitation" when he was involved in a car accident three months ago has staged an amazing recovery, according to cbs11tv.com.
Nine-year-old Jordan Taylor's head was almost completely detached from his body after a dump truck ran through a stop sign and hit a car he was riding in. "There was no connection between the bones of the neck and the head," said Cook Children Medical Center's Dr. Richard Roberts.
Fortunately, Roberts was able to reconnect Jordan's head to his neck with a metal plate, screws and titanium rods. Now it appears Jordan, who had been given a one to two percent chance of survival, has defied the odds and recovered from an injury that by all accounts should have killed him.
"He's beyond all expectations. He's a rock star. He's doing great," Roberts said.
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2008-12-21 13:25:49