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A five year old girl has been left partially blind in one eye from an infection following a visit to a Perth water park.

Chelsea Fawcett developed a serious eye infection and was hospitalised shortly after a visit to Elizabeth Quay water park in Perth.  Doctors have now confirmed to her family that the preschooler is partially blind in one eye and it is unknown if her sight will ever return to normal.

The State Government run water park remains closed indefinitely after routine sampling found pseudomonas-type bacteria in the water spray.  This bacteria is well documented to cause skin rashes or serious ear and eye infections.

Before the indefinitely closure was put in place, the park had been briefly closed and then reopened.

Jannah Fawcett, Chelsea’s mum, said her daughter may be left with a lifetime disability, just because she wanted to take her daughter to see the new park and have some fun.

“It has been an awful experience with Chelsea in hospital and now she has to wear an eye patch and may never get her normal sight back,” she said.

Alex Illich, a lawyer with Slater and Gordon said the firm was investigating a claim on behalf of Chelsea Fawcett against the state government as the operator of the water park.

 

Image source: Facebook

 

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  • Poor little girl :( I hope that her vision returns.

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  • How awful! You’d feel so guilty, for no reason.

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  • Poor girl ! Hope she recovers totally and speedy. This shouldn’t have happened. Waterparks, & pools should be sampled and tested daily.

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  • Lke ur

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  • The poor little mite. I wish her a speedy recovery. I wonder how many others have suffered rashes or anything else without associating it with the water park. And thanks Curlytops for confirming what the regulations are; I was wondering also.

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  • how sad what should have been a fun day out has left her blind. With all this modern technology to do water samples etc there is no excuse for contaminated water. the law states….It is a mandatory requirement (prescribed operating requirement of Schedule 1, Public Health Regulation 2012) that the disinfectant and pH levels of automatically dosed public pools be recorded prior to opening and once during the opening period. Additionally, the public pool shall be manually tested once a day.
    Clearly this was not done.

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  • I really fear for the future her eyesight. The water should be tested at least twice a week during the busy times, and one week during quiet times when not really being used. They are obviously recycling the water. Ordinary swimming pools are checked and treated on a regular basis.
    I am sure the Council charges for the use of the facilities so they should maintain it properly

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  • wow what a sad story for this little girl and her family. I hope that there is good news for the family about her eyesight down the track.

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  • It’s really terrible. We’ve been to that park too. It’s so beautiful! But of course, after hearing about the bacteria, it doesn’t look appealing at all anymore.
    So sorry for that little girl!!

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  • Lke ms

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