ORLANDO, Fla. – An Alabama family is blaming Disney World for the death of their grandmother.
They say a snake escaped at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, dropped from a tree and bit a boy.
The grandmother saw the snake bite the boy, and according to the family, went into cardiac arrest and died a short time later.
The family’s attorney announced Thursday that the family plans to sue Disney World.
“I understand why people would have opinions about this type of case,” family attorney Matt Morgan said. “And the best way that I can address those concerns would be to say, imagine if you were at somebody’s home and a snake fell from the fan. Well, you would have some questions about why a snake from the fan. Just like this family has some questions about why a snake fell from a tree. You want to know because if you believe that your grandmother was killed as a result of this event, you’d want to have answers to, did they know about the snakes, should they have known that there were snakes, was it a pet snake? Those are questions that we have. It’s easy to point fingers and cast judgment until you’re actually in the shoes of the person who lost and affection of a grandmother.”
The family’s attorney says they are seeking damages for the boy’s injuries and the wrongful death of the grandmother.
Disney did not address the woman’s death but a park representative said “these allegations are an utter mischaracterization of the facts.”
Disney says the snake was a wild, non-venomous snake and not part of the park’s collection.
