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American Morning
Ten People Got Closer to Tank Full of Sharks Than They Bargained For
Aired August 08, 2002 - 09:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Ten people got a lot closer to a tank full of sharks than they bargained for yesterday, when the footbridge they were on collapsed. No one was bitten in the mad scramble or eaten, to get out of the New Orleans Aquarium's shark tank, but two people went to the hospital with minor cuts and bruises. And Alison Rooney and her 2-year-old daughter, Amber, were among those who fell into the shark-filled waters. And they join us this morning now from New Orleans.
Good morning. Welcome.
ALISON ROONEY: Good morning.
ZAHN: You must feel very lucky.
ROONEY: Oh, extremely. Extremely. I can't even tell you.
ZAHN: Tell us what happened.
ROONEY: Well, we were doing bind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium for the members, and they had the platform we were working on. Of course me and my daughter were at the very end. Ironically, the man was telling us that if anybody ever fell into the water, that the sharks are well fed and that they would scatter. They wouldn't come to the commotion.
Well, not even two seconds later, sure enough the whole thing just collapsed. It cracked in the middle, and then the sides fell down. Me and my little girl, thankfully I was holding her to my left tight, so when we fell in, we went under the water. There was a corral reef, and I grabbed on to the reef and we bobbed up. Most people grabbed on the roof also. At that point, part of platform was attached. One of the workers was there. She climbed down on to the reef and started pulling a couple of the children out. At that point I gave her little girl. I was more concerned about her than anything.
She got on platform safe, and then I started to get nervous about the sharks. First I was just worried about her drowning, because she's only two. She's small. She can't swim. Once she was on the platform, I was OK. I had to swim across the tank to the other side and get pulled out. And then at that point, they were all still stuck on the platform, and I didn't even think about it at the time, until after I got out, but that platform could have collapsed just as well. So what they had to do is went and got ladders, and they put them on top of the reef, and they tied them with rope, and then they put boards on top of that, and they may just like a chain with people, and they just passed the kids. Mainly kids and a few of the workers on the platform that was stuck in the middle like an island, and they just passed the kids out.
ZAHN: How long, Alison, were you in the water, then? After you got her out...
ROONEY: I don't know about the time. It was a good few minutes. It was very scary. It was one of those things when you're really high up and they tell you not to look down. I was scared to look down to what I might see. When I first looked down, I saw a sting ray right underneath me, and I just freaked out. I was scared to death what I would do if I saw a shark.
ZAHN: Were you screaming?
ROONEY: No. People were very, you know -- people were more screaming after they got out, and you know, they were shocked, because the kids, for the most part, most of the kids were still on that platform. So people were screaming more once they got out and, you know, realized, because everything still in shock once they fell in.
But we moved -- I had 5-year-old nephew, he was closer to the front, and he fell. Him and my little girl, they're the ones that went to the hospital. He had a bunch of scrapes and a bump on his head but he's doing fine now. They're both in good condition.
ZAHN: Did you get scratched up when you talked the reef?
ROONEY: Yes, ma'am. I don't know if you can see. But my whole arm, it's all scratched up. It's doing a lot better now. But it was really messed up.
ZAHN: The problem with corral is you can often get infected inside, and it burns like crazy. Does it hurt?
ROONEY: Not really. Not unless I really put pressure on it. It's OK. My little sister, she's 14. She also fell in. She had cut on foot and a cut on her hand, and she had to grab my 5-year-old cousin and drag him to shore to where they could pull him out.
It was terrifying, especially when you have so many family members in there, and not knowing if you're even going to get out, you know.
ZAHN: Tell me about Amber. Do you think she has any clue as to -- the dunking what she went through?
ROONEY: She has somewhat of a clue. I don't think being that's she's so young, she has the idea of severity. She was pretty quiet as it happened. But on the way home, she started talking. And what she was saying that we slipped and we fell into the water. And last night, see woke up quite a few times screaming, mommy, hold me, because that's what I was doing, she just wanted me to hold her tight when we went in the water.
But today she was talking a little bit about the sharks in the water. But I don't think she associates sharks with the big teeth. Doesn't associate them different than regular fish. My cousin Wesley, he understands. He's five, and he is terrified. He was very, very upset.
ZAHN: So do you ever plan to visit an aquarium again anytime soon?
ROONEY: Not anytime soon. I'm going to wait to I'm very sure she's OK. As far as I go, the only time I really go is with her. So we're going to be OK. We'll eventually go back, but not anytime in the near future.
ZAHN: I hope I'm not putting Amber to sleep. That was a nice big yawn there. Treat her to a donut and thank her for getting up with us this morning to talk with us.
ROONEY: Thank you.
ZAHN: And, boy, were you lucky.
Thanks for sharing your story with us, and hope your arms heals soon.
ROONEY: It will.
ZAHN: Take care. Good luck to you.
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