Photo: @richcaseyhumphery/Instagram
At least the kid is ok!
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Mar 19, 2023
You know those people on social media that make accounts for their kids or their pets and pretend to post from their point of view? Well, this dad may have just exposed his own messed up parenting by posing as his toddler online.
Casey Humpherys created an account for his son, Rich, and frequently posts photos and videos of the family’s adventures together involving them together. However, one post from May 2021 recently resurfaced on a subreddit devoted to calling out bad parents.
The dad posted about how he cut his son’s finger off and took him to the emergency room.
The post is a collage of three separate images, all including Casey and Rich and their trip to the emergency room where you can see the young boy’s hand bandaged up where his ring and pinky finger should be.
“Well it's no surprise, but dad cut my finger off while we were working on a motorcycle,” the post read, written from the perspective of a boy that couldn’t even read yet. “The doctor and all of the cute nurses at the ER helped sew it back on for me. It should be good as new!”
Not only did Casey cut his own son’s finger off while working on a motorcycle, but he decided that in the same post where he proudly announced it, he would call the nurses cute.
Casey’s life seems to be full of adventure — frequently posting photos at motocross events, boating, surfing, and at firing ranges where he shoots large rifles. He seems to bring both of his children, Rich and his sister Rubi, on these adventures. However, things took a turn when his son got severely injured while they were working on a motorcycle.
Naturally, concerned parents took to the comments and said this was 'child abuse.'
After the dad posted about how he cut his son’s finger off, parents were outraged and told him off.
One of the top comments on Instagram read, “This dude should be reported to child services.” Another person penned “You deserve to have your kids taken away from you.”
Others noticed how unfair the situation feels. “Can’t believe the people that so effortlessly become parents on this planet whereas so many worthy [of being parents are struggling] so so much!”
But the comments weren’t without their fair share of people defending the father and calling those who were outraged “soft.”
In response to one of the comments above, someone wrote “Well excuse me karen. Stop bubble-wrapping your kids. Every kid [gets] hurt at some point plus. You don't know what [really] happened. So keep it to yourself please.”
Although it is true that people on the internet don’t know the real story of what happened, it’s hard to believe any story that ends with a child having their finger taken off isn’t due to negligence from the parent.
The Humpherys had previously gone viral in 2020 when they took Rich waterskiing.
This family isn’t new to controversy, seeing as a year before Rich had his finger taken away, he was waterskiing alongside a boat that his parents were recording him from. He rode on the water on a mini waterski with a floatation device on his chest. Casey sat right next to him on the boat, guiding him along, supporting him, and cheering him on.
Parents in the comments screamed “Child abuse,” but according to their interview on Good Morning America, Rich could not have been safer.
“We had a separate boat out there,” Casey told them, adding that they had “10 to 12 people with us, including doctors and nurses.”
The boat was only going five miles an hour, and Rich had been taught how to swim as well, but other parents remained concerned about the dangers that could present themselves as accidents could always happen.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, infants can drown within seconds because they lack neck and muscle control — it is the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death in US children one through four years of age.
Although nothing happened to Rich while he was waterskiing, it’s hard to ignore the fact that a year later, his finger had been cut off under his father’s supervision.
Whatever the case, we hope that Rich’s parents have his best interests at heart and are able to keep him safe while they go on adventures.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.