Boy’s Death Leaves Mom Wondering Why

The plaintive voice on the answering machine offers details of her 8-year-old son’s funeral Saturday. “Come in your soccer uniforms, basketball uniforms, whatever you want. He’d just appreciate seeing you, and so would I. Thank you very much for all your support,” the message says, “and I’ll be taking you all up on it later.”

Tracy Ferris, 36, of Laguna Niguel had raised her son, Anthony, by herself and relied on after-school care while she worked in the mortgage business. Tony’s father had never been around, family friends said. Most of the time there were just the three of them: Tracy, Tony and Erin, Tony’s 12-year-old half-sister, when she wasn’t in Utah visiting her father.

The boy died Monday while on a YMCA day-care outing at Chapparosa Park in Laguna Niguel, where an 800-pound concrete bench flipped over and crushed him. The other children on the bench scrambled away unhurt.

“It was with the Y and at a city park,” Ferris said Thursday. What could be a safer place for a child, she thought.

Friends and strangers have left flowers at the site of the tragedy, offering their condolences and support. Ferris said she can’t bring herself to talk to the dozens who have offered help.

Her friend Shelly Barnett said, “She’s doing amazingly well. I don’t think it’s hit her yet. It’s the same old Tracy. She’s being a mom right now, and she’s taking care of her son.”

The obvious question for Ferris is whether she will sue. She said she has not decided.

People are trying to figure out why the bench was so unstable. Sheriff’s deputies have not found evidence that it had been tampered with. Investigators for the insurance carriers for the YMCA and Laguna Niguel continue to look for the cause.

Several children were on the bench, and four boys, including Tony, were sitting on the backrest when it tipped backward and rolled down an embankment. Adults were almost close enough to reach out and grab the children.

The president of Dura Art Stone, manufacturer of the bench, said earlier this week that it was supposed to be bolted or glued to the ground. But Laguna Niguel officials said they cannot find installation instructions for the benches, which were in Chapparosa and two other parks. The day after the accident, city workers removed all of them.

Tony was a third-grader at Hidden Hills Elementary School, a math lover and a yo-yo expert. Much of his mother’s life centered on Tony, and she recently had become den mother for his Cub Scout troop.

His funeral is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at El Toro Memorial Park in Lake Forest.

A fund has been established to help pay for the funeral. Donations can be sent to the Anthony Ferris Memorial Fund, Southern California Bank, 3000 Town Center Drive, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677.