Warning as girl, 8, loses a pint of blood going down water slide after staff ‘didn’t tell her key safety rule’
A GIRL lost a pint of blood in a horrifying water slide accident after staff allegedly failed to tell her a key safety rule.
The eight-year-old’s mum is suing for more than £500,000 after the shocking incident at Dreamworld’s WhiteWater World in Australia.
The young girl and her siblings went on the Fully 6 slides at the Gold Coast park on November 22, 2020.
As the youngster went down, her legs became uncrossed due to the “forceful impact” of the water, according to the claim seen by 7News.
It is claimed she suffered significant internal injuries as a result – leaving her bleeding for two weeks and needing surgery.
Her mum claimed they could not immediately find a lifeguard to help as the girl got off the slide – and the youngster lost an estimated 500ml of blood.
It is claimed that she needed towels between her legs to attempt to stop her “bleeding profusely”.
The eight-year-old faced abdominal pain, anxiety and nightmares – and now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, the claim states.
The mum has filed the claim against Dreamworld’s parent company Ardent Leisure and contractor Swimplex Aquatics.
She has accused Ardent staff of failing to tell the girl that she needed to keep her legs crossed during the entire descent down the slide.
Bree Smith, from Shine Lawyers, said: “This was an incredibly traumatic injury for somebody to suffer at any age, let alone a girl who’s just eight years old.”
She added: “We’re alleging that park staff failed to properly educate [her] on how to go down the ride safely, and that if a risk assessment had been done they would’ve identified the potential for injury.
“Our evidence is that there were no lifeguards in the splash down who responded to the injury area at the time and that it was up to (the girl’s) mum to get her help for what was plainly a serious injury.
“As a result of the serious injury to her daughter and the ongoing trauma, and having to find help for her daughter on her own, Sarah has been diagnosed with PTSD and has chronic post-traumatic anxiety symptoms.
“This incident has had a profound impact on the family, and it’s likely it will take a great deal of time yet for them to recover.”
At the time, a WhiteWater World spokeswomen said the theme park “acknowledges the injury sustained by the guest in question”.
The park explained that the girl had gone to the site’s first aid room.
They said she was tended to by a paramedic and a registered nurse, before being taken by ambulance to hospital.
Four people on the Thunder River Rapids ride at the same theme park in October 2016.
Sydney mum Cindy Low, 42, died along with Kate Goodchild – a 32-year-old woman from near Canberra – Kate’s brother Luke Dorsett, and his partner Roozi Araghi.
Ardent was fined £2million after pleading guilty to three charges relating to the deaths.
After the four fatalities, Coroner James McDougall found a “systemic failure by DreamWorld in relation to all aspects of safety”.
At the time, Ardent said Dreamworld had taken steps to improve safety at the park as a result.