Walt Disney World honors Lane Graves, boy killed by alligator

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Wednesday will mark one year since an alligator at the Grand Floridian, at Walt Disney World, snatched a boy playing along the shore of the lake and killed him.

A sculpture of a lighthouse will soon stand on Disney property to remember 2-year-old Lane Graves.

 Experts: It's prime time for dangerous alligator attacks

The lighthouse is a symbol used by the Lane Thomas Foundation, which was set up by the Graves family following his death.

Graves and his family were vacationing from Nebraska in June 2016 when he was killed. He was scooping sand on the beach area when the alligator appeared out of Seven Seas Lagoon.

Lane’s father tried to grab his son and fight off the alligator, but it was too late.

The Lane Thomas organization supports families of children in need of life saving organ transplants.

The lighthouse will be installed sometime this summer, in an undisclosed location.

Read Disney’s full statement below:

The Lane Thomas Foundation was created to give honor and light to Lane's life. The foundation is dedicated to supporting families of children needing life-saving organ transplants. To provide continued awareness of the foundation and its mission, we've commissioned an original sculpture of the lighthouse the foundation uses as a symbol of love and hope, to be installed on our property this summer." – George A. Kalogridis, President, Walt Disney World Resort

Cox Media Group