The "Amber May Law"
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Click here to read the Today Show's article on this case |
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On August 18, 2007, Amber May White, age 15, and her sister Crystal, 17, were on vacation in Pompano Beach, Florida. They decided to go parasailing for the first time in their lives. The Wyndham Resort at which they were staying directed them to the watersports provider at the hotel.
Despite warnings from the weather service about high winds and seas, the parasailing operator took the sisters up behind the hotel. The boat was very close to shore and the girls were over 500 feet in the air when the winds pulled them onto shore. Despite pleas from Amber to bring them down, they sat strapped in hundreds of feet in the air. After several minutes stuck in the same place, the line holding the parasail snapped, hurling the girls into the roof of a nearby hotel, and then into the trees, where they had to be cut down.
Sadly, Amber's neck was broken . When she was airlifted to the hospital they determined that she was brain dead. She was kept on life support long enough for her mother, Shannon Kraus, to arrange for organ donation. Because of Amber May, today there is a young girl with a heart and many others with Amber's other organs.
Sunday, August 26th would have been Amber's Sweet 16 birthday. Instead of a party, her friends and family gathered at her funeral to say goodbye to this amazing young lady.
Crystal suffered serious head injuries but, most important, has lost her sister and very best friend. The sisters were known as a "team" since they did everything together. Crystal was holding Amber's hand to calm her when the parasail started to fail.
The equipment used by the parasailing company was inadequate and faulty, the operator ignored weather warnings, and the parasailing should never have been within 2000 feet of land or structures. Nevertheless a precious life is gone that cannot be replaced. Click here to read the Complaint.
Amber's family is committed to getting legislation passed that will end tragedies like this. Dozens of parasailing accidents occur each year in an industry that has no required standards or certification. The captain who operated the parasailing operation that killed Amber was not licensed or certified. The company that owned the boat had been responsible for at least one other watersports death.
Two years ago, state Senator Sebesta proposed a bill that would help prevent these tragedies. The bill did not pass. This year, Sen. Gwen Margolis will file a bill in the Florida Senate to try to accomplish this.
We need your help.
We want to help these progressive legislators get this bill passed. Click to sign the Petition in support of legislation in favor of regulating the parasailing industry to prevent tragedies like the one that took the life of Amber May White.
We will forward your concerns to the legislators so they can see that this is something everyone supports and will benefit from.
A fund has been created to help the family with funeral and medical expenses. Donations can be made at any Bank of America for the benefit of "Amber and Crystal White Family Fund", or may be mailed to P.O. Box 1675, Belleview, FL 34421.
