Matt and Melissa Graves — who tragically lost their 2-year-old son when he was attacked by an alligator while playing on a Disney Resort beach — have become the subject of ridicule online.
@cnn matthew and melissa graves #ripLANE
The Graveses, who were vacationing at Disney World from Nebraska, not only witnessed their son being dragged into the lagoon by an alligator at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort, but physically fought the reptile for their child's life.
The criticism echoes the harsh words many had for the parents of a young boy who fell into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo last month.
Some people have alleged they should have kept a closer eye:
Police should be investigating Nebraska parents for negligence and neglect. Their irresponsible parenting caused death of their son.
While others were upset the boy was playing on the beach at night:
But many in the parenting world have begun rallying behind the Graveses and sharing photos of their own young kids playing in the fateful spot.
Florida resident Jeannette Kaplun posted this photo of her children. She told BuzzFeed, "My heart breaks for the Graves family. It could have happened to any of us."
Melissa Mitchell did the same on on her blog, Sippy Cup Mom, writing, "It could have been me, because I'm not a perfect parent."
Jennifer Venditti, who was a guest at the resort when the tragedy took place, shared this now viral image of her son playing on the same beach just hours before the incident.
And Melissa Fenton, a mother of four, wrote a passionate plea for fellow parents to stop judging the grieving Graves family.
Fenton's post, which reminds readers their own parents wouldn't have been so quick to judge, had been shared nearly 400,000 times on Facebook by Thursday afternoon.
CORRECTION
One of the photos in an earlier version of this post depicted a different lagoon from where the alligator attack happened, so it has been removed.