[bigred35]

Originally Posted by Samara ↗

This article quotes the witness's wife, who says one of the boy's brothers was nearby and saw the accident. She said the brother was screaming that he'd just seen his little brother die. I cannot imagine the trauma. I cannot imagine the lawsuit brewing.

I dont believe they can sue, all riders had to sign a waiver

[Desensitisation]

Originally Posted by CrunchyCripple ↗

I know, it just bothers me.

They call a broken neck "An internal decapitation" - even though the skin, muscle, windpipe, throat and arteries are all still intact.

That would be akin to calling a complete bone break of the arm, an internal amputation- since everything is intact, except for the bone.

It just seems a bit over dramatic in the the wording.

Don't mind me.

Yeah, medical terminology can be a bit crazy at times. Still, that's what we're stuck with.

[HelloNurse!]

Originally Posted by CrunchyCripple ↗

I know, it just bothers me.

They call a broken neck "An internal decapitation" - even though the skin, muscle, windpipe, throat and arteries are all still intact.

That would be akin to calling a complete bone break of the arm, an internal amputation- since everything is intact, except for the bone.

It just seems a bit over dramatic in the the wording.

Don't mind me.

Well then you're talking about an open fracture vs a closed fracture

[33whiskey]

Originally Posted by bigred35 ↗

I dont believe they can sue, all riders had to sign a waiver

Waiver doesn't excuse the fact that the riders combined weight wasn't adequate to maintain the position the raft had to be in to safely make it all the way to the bottom, the waiver doesn't excuse the strap Velcro being overused and coming undone during the ride, the waiver doesn't excuse allowing a clearly too small child onto the ride, the waiver doesn't excuse uneducated/untrained staff putting him in the most vulnerable position possible on the raft for his size, and the waiver doesn't excuse the complete ignorance of the risks to rider safety given the combination of those safety feature and plan failures.

I hope the lawsuit bankrupts the slides creators; it was a poorly executed theme park ride that was more risk than it was worth to have in the park and they got greedy and eliminated weight requirements for the ride in order to get more patrons on it.

They failed their patrons, they failed their staff members who were not provided safety features that are adequate and they now have to carry the guilt for the death of the boy, they failed that boy's family, they failed that child and he paid with his life.

[William May]

I guess the kid met the height restriction BEFORE the ride, but not AFTER.........

[Iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by trollbridge ↗

It is easy to see how the fence probably acted like a cheese grater. Not sure how anyone would think that kind of metal wire "fence" is a good idea. Anyone bouncing into that would be badly injured, without a doubt. So this kid's shoulder strap probably came undone on the first drop and being a tiny slip of a kid he flies out of the lap portion as they crest the hill and go zero G. No way he could hold on. The fence catches his chin, and his head gets easily ripped off by the force of the raft and other two passengers pushing his body down the final hill. As his body gets pulled out of the raft in that moment before head and torso come apart, his flailing torso breaks the jaw and face bone of the two riders behind him. Looking at the setup and watching FPV of the "slide" in question, I'm surprised it hasn't happened before.

I get why they didn't use large mechanical shoulder harnesses, however a better choice would have been a 5 point nylon harness like a child safety seat uses. Still easy enough to release should a raft tip upside down, and way more secure than Velcro over the lap and shoulder.

It is obvious that the boy was decapitated, if you look closely at the pictures. You can see two yellow pieces of sheet or canvas over the body parts, with red stains seeping through each of the two. Even with the dark bottom of the yellow slide, you can get a good idea of the blood dumped into the water.

Reminds me of that race car driver who got launched into the catch fence not too long ago...that fence shredded his head off too. I think it is completely insensitive to reopen this slide at all, they should tear it down. I don't think the park needs to close for good, but if I owned the place the summer would be over. It would be next season before customers were invited back, and that slide would be completely gone.

I hope this family can cope with this whole mess. I'm sure it will be a long time before this isn't all they see when they close their eyes. :(

100000%

[5150]

Originally Posted by bigred35 ↗

I dont believe they can sue, all riders had to sign a waiver

Those waivers often don't legally hold up, specially when there is gross negligence as in this case. Park likely was insured and they will payout something in the $3-10 million range. The value for dead children is not very high compared to adults. (They are not producing income, etc. ) I think the payout will be in the higher end due to the graphic nature of the injury, and the recklessness of the park.

I can't believe they put those two land whales in the back with a combined weight of around 500 pounds, and then put the 73 pound kid in the front. Hell, those two sows could make a little Kia do a wheelie if they could fit in the rear seats.

[BBKF]

Originally Posted by bigred35 ↗

I dont believe they can sue, all riders had to sign a waiver

You can sign all the waivers you want...a person can not sign away their rights.

[hal0mega]

[St. Geno]

Poor kid but I really want to ride it now