Photos of the parents of the boy whose fall into the
gorilla exhibit moat in Cincinnati Zoo resulted in the death of a
17-year-old silverback gorilla, Harambe, have been revealed. Pictured is
his mother Michelle Gregg, who has four children, and ex convict father
Deonne Dickerson.
Michelle Gregg, the mother of the boy, posted a message on
Facebook on the day the incident happened, saying:
The family also released a statement after the boy was discharged to go home from the hospital. It read:'I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers today. What started off as a wonderful day turned into a scary one. For those of you that have seen the news or been on social media that was my son that fell in the gorilla exhibit at the zoo. God protected my child until the authorities were able to get to him. My son is safe and was able to walk away with a concussion and a few scrapes... no broken bones or internal injuries. As a society we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child and if anyone knows me I keep a tight watch on my kids. Accidents happen but I am thankful that the right people were in the right place today. Thank you to everyone that helped me and my son today and most importantly God for being the aawesome God that He is.'
'We are so thankful to the Lord that our child is safe. He is home and doing just fine. We extend our heartfelt thanks for the quick action by the Cincinnati Zoo staff. We know that this was a very difficult decision for them, and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla. We hope that you will respect our privacy at this time.'
