Mindi, the mother of the child, often shares her family adventures with her followers on Instagram @minditaggehumpherys. It has been only 6 months since she became a loving mother to baby Rich.
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While many babies at that age are starting to crawl, Rich's parents decided to put him on a small board, protected by only a lifejacket. With his father watching from the boat just a few inches away, Rich practices water skiing, one of his father's favourite sports.
As you would expect, the post was quickly filled with comments and the video ran like wildfire all over the internet. Many users have wondered how they could do such a thing and pondered what would have happened if the child, totally unaware of what he is doing, had let go.
In fact, they have been accused of being bad parents. "And if you look at his face, he's not having fun with it ... you're having fun with it. As parents, we must respect and be open to the signs that babies give us..." commented one follower.
Many others have pointed out that it's a pretty dangerous sport, and that at 6 months a baby's skull is not closed enough and his spine is weak.
However, his parents seem to be proud of their child and want the world to know it, captioning the post: "The youngest water skier in the world".
Don't miss the video with all the details of the news and the controversial viral video.
