Woman Sues Florida Indoor Park After Son Suffers Brain Injury in Zip Line Fall

Tampa, FL (Law Firm Newswire) April 8, 2020 – A woman sued an indoor amusement park in Lakeland, Florida, after her 10-year-old son suffered serious injuries in a fall from a zip line attraction.

The incident took place at Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park on September 1. The child’s mother, Kimberly Barnes, filed a lawsuit against UATP Management, the owner of the facility. She is seeking damages in excess of $15,000. The lawsuit accused three of the park’s employees of failing to secure her son’s harness and conduct necessary safety checks before releasing him from the launch platform.

“Parents have a reasonable expectation that amusement parks will have important safety procedures in place to protect their children and competent employees who have been properly trained,” commented Robert Joyce, a Tampa personal injury attorney with Joyce & Reyes, who is not involved with the case. “In this case, it appears park management failed to employ even the most basic safety measures, causing a young boy to suffer horrific injuries. It is also strange that there was bare concrete instead of rubber padding or safety nets underneath the zip line ride.”

The park called Barnes to inform her that her son had fallen off the Sky Rider zip line and was severely injured. The boy sustained a brain injury, punctured lung and several broken bones. He was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital where he had multiple surgeries over five days.

Soon after getting on the Sky Rider, the boy lost his grip on the front rope, slipped from his harness and fell 20 to 25 feet onto the concrete floor below. The park’s surveillance video showed that he hit his head on the concrete.

According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services incident report, the zip line accident occurred due to operator error. Investigators said the boy’s harness was not fastened properly and the leg straps were unbuckled. Video footage showed him using his arms to hold his body weight until the fall.

Barnes’ lawyer pointed out that the front rope was not a safety measure that prevented riders from falling. It only served to stop riders from spinning and ensured they were facing forward.

The park released a statement saying that it retrained all of its staff members. In addition, the employees who were operating the Sky Rider no longer worked for the company.

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Learn more at http://www.joyceandreyespa.com Joyce and Reyes Law Firm, P.A. 307 S Hyde Park Ave Tampa, FL 33606 Call: 813.251.2007