We can’t even imagine going through something like this…
Police officers in Brisbane, Australia have confirmed that a baby girl was killed in an almost unimaginable way after a magpie attacked her mother. In turn, the mother — who was carrying the baby in her arms at the time of the attack — apparently tripped and fell while trying to avoid the attacking bird, and the infant landed on the ground with a severe head injury.
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The incident occurred Sunday afternoon at Glindemann Park in the Queensland city of Brisbane, on Australia’s Gold Coast. The mother was taking a stroll in the park with her infant — identified in the media as Baby Mia — in her arms when the one-in-a-million tragedy struck, according to Daily Mail Australia.
A spokesperson for Queensland Ambulance Services confirmed they transported a baby from the park to the hospital with massive head injuries, saying in a statement (below):
“A mother had reportedly been ducking to avoid a magpie and then tripped over with a baby in her arms. We transported an infant to Queensland Children’s Hospital in a serious condition with a head injury. The medical director was on board and so was a critical care paramedic.”
Another couple who was in the park at the time of the accident witnessed everything that happened, and said that the baby’s father — who was also present — did “everything he could” and was “heroic” even despite the fact that his poor daughter succumbed to her injuries.
One of the witnesses told the Courier-Mail (below):
“I’ve seen shock before but this was beyond anything I’d ever seen. It’s sickening I suppose, seeing a family torn apart in one quick moment.”
Boy, if that doesn’t sum it up in the most succinct and most heartbreaking way.
In a tragically ironic twist, the magpie was swooping because it was defending its own young. The male magpie involved had apparently been swooping — a common magpie behavior — to defend some of his chicks that were “really vulnerable” in a nest nearby, according to Sean Dooley from the organization BirdLife Australia.
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Dooley, who said he was “shattered” by the incident, told ABC:
“While it’s only the male magpies that swoop and only 10 percent of males do swoop, the consequences, especially when people are caught unaware, can be truly terrifying and devastating. Swooping season only occurs when the male magpies are defending the chicks in the nest – so for that brief period where the chicks are really vulnerable.”
According to media reports, Glindemann Park has several signs in place warning of “swooping birds” and alerting passersby about this “normal protective behavior” that occurs “during the breeding season and lasts up to six weeks.”
One of the signs reportedly reads:
“Many birds such as butcherbirds, magpies and miners nest in this area and may swoop on passers-by. This is a normal protective behavior during the breeding season and lasts up to six weeks. Avoid the area during breeding season; wear a hat or carry an umbrella, bike riders dismount and walk; and move quickly through the area — don’t run.”
According to reports, city council workers have already erected several more warning signs around the site (shown above, along with flowers placed at the scene by mourners.)
Such a terrible, terrible tragedy. Sending our condolences to the baby girl’s poor, grieving parents.
Just unimaginable….
[Image via WENN/Avalon]
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