A 10-year-old boy sustained serious injuries after he fell from a zip line attraction at Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park in Lakeland, Florida. Video surveillance released last week captured the horrifying moment.
The child was on a zip line ride called “Sky Rider.” Before taking off, passengers are to be strapped in via a harness that includes leg straps to ensure that the individual riding does not fall. The harness maintains even weight distribution as the ride is meant to carry the person’s body weight through the air, going through several dips and obstacles along the way.
Shortly after the ride began, the child slipped out of the zipline harness and fell approximately 20 to 25 feet onto the concrete floor below. Due to the fall, the boy suffered a brain injury, several broken ribs and a punctured lung.
The zip line ride was inspected following the accident. The inspectors found that the leg straps on the harness were never buckled before the child began the ride. The surveillance video captured this evidence.
The video shows him holding his body weight solely with his arms, and as the ride approached its first dip, the child then lost his grip and fell approximately 20 to 25 feet onto the concrete surface below.
“Sky Ride” is set up to have three stations: the harness area, where an employee first puts on the harness and attaches everything; the adjustment pit, where another employee conducts a “safety harness check; and the start platform, where another employee does a final check to ensure the harness and straps are secure before the rider is released holding a front rope.
The parents of the child have filed a lawsuit, alleging that Urban Air employees failed to check or secure their son’s harness properly before he started the ride. Due to the nature of the accident, doctors are still evaluating the full extent of the boy’s injuries, including the emotional damage the child suffered as a result of the accident.
Source: Tampa Bay Times