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It has been a nightmare few years for the owners of Dreamworld themepark in Gold Coast. In the most recent incident, the family of a young girl severely injured on one of the rides, is considering taking legal action against the company’s water park.

Dreamworld is still recovering from the tragic accident on the Thunder River Rapids Ride in 2016. And now parent company Ardent Leisure is staring down yet another legal battle after an 8-year-old girl suffered a traumatic injury to her genital area after sliding down the Fully6 waterslide at WhiteWater World on 22 November.

According to The Courier Mail, the Logan family is contemplating legal action, saying that there was no staff around in the water park when the accident happened.

“Blood Everywhere”

The family shared that the girl came off the slide at the end covered in blood and in tears.

“She’s crying, in pain, bleeding everywhere. They didn’t take it seriously,” the girls’ mum said.

“The blood was just pouring out of her … she was crying ‘Mum, am I gonna die?'”

The mother claimed there was no theme park staff around to help except for a young man who directed her towards the first-aid room.

Long Recovery

Eventually an ambulance was summoned and the girl taken to hospital. She was diagnosed as suffering from a severe vaginal tear and would need to recover for at least eight weeks.

It is understood that the pressure and force of the water caused the injury.

Shine Lawyers have spoken to Newscorp saying that the extent of the girl’s injuries is unacceptable and that she had followed the instructions for the ride. They also said that the delayed response of the WhiteWater World team caused much distress.

Not Everyone Agrees

However, some people are saying that the safety control is excellent in the themepark. One of the comments on a post on the Courier Mail Facebook post read:

“Went there 3 times last week and all the staff were wonderful with all there safety checks and instructions. And the life savers on duty were on top of every little thing blowing their whistles at everyone. I actually thought it was over the top but safety first.”

Statement

A WhiteWater World spokesperson said the theme park “acknowledges the injury sustained by the guest in question”.

“It can be confirmed that the guest met all manufacturer requirements for the attraction and was given detailed and repeated instructions on how to position herself for the slide, including a physical demonstration by a slide operator,” the water park said.

Ardent Leisure, the parent company of Dreamworld and Whitewater World,  was fined $3.6 million over the deaths of four people on the Thunder River Rapids Ride in 2016.

Do you get worried when taking the kids to a themepark? Do you think the themepark is responsible for this accident? Tell us in the comments below.

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  • I loved them when I had little kids. Mine are all grown now so I have no need to visit one

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  • I haven’t been to a Themepark since before the dream world innocent,that turned me off big time.

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  • Hope the young girl recovers fully.

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  • Wow! That’s scary.
    It’s always hard when younger kids go on such big rides, anything can happen!
    They should always have staff around no matter what just to ensure the right precautions are taken.

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  • Extremely sad and horrific accident

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  • It is very worrying, the things that can happen.

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  • This is so sad for this little girl, and the family. Any of these places have risk, no matter how well instructions are followed. The force and impact of hitting that water must have been huge.

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  • All rides have risks and I’m sure they followed all the precautions they were meant to. If this has happened at other water parks on this type of ride, then maybe that ride should be closed or the water pressure lessened somehow. That way the park will stay open. I wish for the best outcome for all involved

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  • We never been to there. But i guess it was kind of risky.

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  • There’s always a certain amount of risk going on rides at theme parks- that’s why they have signs posted stating risks on certain rides. You can’t prevent every accident occurring. For goodness sake kids get injured at playgrounds all the time and no legal action is taken.

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  • Injuries like what happened to this little girl have happened to other women and girls at other water slide parks around the world. It has to do with the water rushing in at extreme pressure because of the speed at which users travel down the slide. Apparently if you can keep your legs tightly crossed the water will not rush in to your bits and injury is less likely. I think this can be difficult for an adult female, let alone a child. Vaginal tissue is very sensitive and these injuries could have potentially life long lasting effects. I personally think that such rides should not exist. Perhaps we should make them males only rides (kidding…don’t attack me, but the males are less susceptible to injury in this case for obvious reasons). I would be curious if it was explained to the girl that she should keep her legs tightly crossed for the entire decent of the ride. If not, then they are negligent as should be sued. If it was explained to her and didn’t do as instructed, then it is her fault for not following the safety instructions.

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  • OMG. I had never worried about these things before the Dreamworld incident. I must admit, I’m in no hurry to go to a theme park now and would ask my son to be cautious.

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  • Can’t see this theme park staying in business for too much longer. The litigation costs would just about shatter them. Feel sorry for all who do the right thing but still get hurt there.


    • Yes, those costs might just kill them

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  • I’m always worried for everyone to be honest, but our kids go with adults as they are too young to go alone just yet

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  • My kids are too little yet but yes I would be a worried parent. Having fallen off a small flying fox and smashing up my arm I no longer trust things. But there comes a point when you have to let go a bit. Maybe when they’re teenagers

    Reply

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