When Anastasia Duboshina and her husband, James Carter, took their 1-year-old son Nico to stay at the Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, they had no idea that Nico would never return home. Their beloved son died in a tragic yet preventable accident on the third day of their trip.
More from Mom.com: Alfonso Ribeiro's 4-Year-Old Daughter Has a 'Long' Recovery Ahead After Scooter Accident
They could have never anticipated such a tragedy
Duboshina and Carter explained that they had taken a trip to a Hyatt hotel in Florida a few months before their trip to Mexico, and their previous stay is what influenced their decision.
"We chose Hyatt specifically for their safety and because they were a child-friendly resort, and that’s exactly what we wanted to do, take our boy in a safe place with us and just enjoy the beach and have fun with him there," Duboshina explained.
One moment changed their lives forever
Their family was forever changed on the third day of their trip.
"Nico and I were in the elevator bay area kind of near our room, and there’s a balcony area where you can look out toward the ocean," Carter said. "We’re on the ninth floor, and me and him were just talking, we’re looking out at the ocean and next thing you know he just disappeared."
Through tears, Carter explained, "He fell through an opening where there was a missing piece of safety glass on the balcony. I watched my son fall nine stories to his death."
The accident happened in what felt like a split second
Duboshina told their local news affiliate that while Carter and Nico were looking out the window, she was packing a backpack so the family could go enjoy breakfast. She had just walked out of their room when Nico fell.
"I heard that scream. I’ve never heard anything like that before by my husband," she shared. "My heart dropped, I knew something terrible happened."
They're suing the hotel and hope to save other parents from the same heartache
On October 5, 2023, the couple filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Playa Hotels and Resorts, and others on Nico's behalf.
"They went down there as a family of three and came back, you know, just them," their lawyer, Robert Francavilla, said to NBC 7.
"In what world can a hotel assign somebody to a ninth floor that has a freefall death-drop attached to it?" he asked.
Nothing will ever be the same
"We were supposed to come back from the trip and celebrate his second birthday, but we had to plan a funeral instead," Duboshina shared, adding "Life’s been a nightmare since."
"No parent should go through that," she added. "No parent should bury a child."
