Parents Whose Daughter Died on Cruise Ship Sue Royal Caribbean, Say They Feel 'Helpless, Hopeless'

(Inside Edition)

The parents of the little girl who fell to her death from a cruise ship are speaking of their heartbreak.

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“It is awful, it is impossible she is gone,” Chloe's mother, Kim Weigand, told Inside Edition.

Kim said her 10-year-old son broke the news to her on the ship about what happened to her infant daughter.

Adding to the family's anguish, Kim said, “her birthday is Friday, so, she would have been two. I had planned to go and see ‘Frozen 2’ with her; that was going to be her first trip to the movies. I know that it's going to be a very painful day."

The family announced at a news conference Wednesday that they are suing the cruise line, Royal Caribbean.

"The only people who can really understand this pain are other parents who have lost a child," Kim said at the press conference. “It is ten times worse than you can ever imagine.” 

Also appearing at the news conference and sitting next to Kim and Chloe's father, Al Weigand, was Chloe’s grandfather, Sam Anello, who was supervising his granddaughter when she fell. Anello says he didn't realize a window that he was lifting Chloe up to was open. He has been charged with negligent homicide by authorities in Puerto Rico. He says it was a terrible accident.

“I sit here broken," he said. "We all sit here broken. but our family is strong and we will stay strong together." 

The news conference was held at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge in South Bend, Indiana. Chloe's father, Al, is an officer with the South Bend Police Department. 

The hardened cop choked up as he told Inside Edition about the moment he learned his daughter had fallen.

“I heard she went out the window, so I went and looked, hoping that maybe there was some water or something down there,” Al told Inside Edition. 

Kim says that there are days she is "angry sometimes but there's different feelings every day, sometimes you just feel helpless, hopeless, sometimes it's angry, sometimes it's sad."

Royal Caribbean said in a statement to Inside Edition that their hearts go out to the family, but that they wouldn't be commenting on the new lawsuit.  

Meanwhile, Chloe’s parents have asked that people honor Chloe’s birthday on Friday by doing random acts of kindness.

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