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Original poster

Fell off water slide on holiday?

250 replies

cheekymonk · 11/08/2017 19:05

Hi there. Have just returned from holiday on the Canaries and whilst there visited the obligatory water park. I had been on several slide whilst there, not consumed any alcohol
And had taken regular breaks and had top on to avoid sunburn. Whilst I was riding on a four ring ride with my DH, DS and DD I fell out of my tyre and hurtled out of the slide at speed, banging my head, losing a fair bite of blood and suffering amnesia. The lifeguards were attentive and I was cared for until an ambulance arrived. I was then taken to hospital and had an overnight stay. I was given 6 stitches and on an IV drop as
Not allowed food or food drink due to possible scan the following day(not done). I had an X-ray and was then certified fit to fly by Dr. I had travel insurance and paid the excess.
My query is whether the park was negligent? The attendants kept us waiting at top of slide for approx 10 mins. I am very obese and I think they were unsure about allowing me to ride. However I had been on an identical ride previously and been ok and the wait made me more anxious and weaker as they kept telling me off and to hold on tighter and keep my back straight. I struggled to do this for the time they kept us waiting which was much longer than others.
My head is painful and I feel the holiday was ruined by the experience. Not sure what to do? Any suggestions?

OP posts:
Original poster
cheekymonk · 11/08/2017 19:50

I think we would have been over combined weight limit but I didn't work it out. I am 170 kg and combined limit was 315. DH and DD are both very slim.

OP posts:
Original poster
cheekymonk · 11/08/2017 19:52

I don't know how I fell out, I presume I just couldn't hold on any more as it was taking a lot of strength as ggirl says, I was fighting gravity.

OP posts:
Original poster
cheekymonk · 11/08/2017 19:56

Thanks Paradisecity. I feel so guilty as I
know DS was very upset by whole incident. I try not to let my weight stop me joining in and being with the family but know that if there is significant risk involved I must step back. I feel stupid too and think that sometimes, even at my age I don't recognise the potential risks.

OP posts:
spanieleyes · 11/08/2017 19:56

Surely it was your reponsibility to work out if you met the weight limit or not. the lifeguards wouldn't know how much you weighed-unless there were weighing scales before every ride!

Mychildcouldnotbreaatfeed · 11/08/2017 19:56

So you thought you might not be the weight for the slide, were scared and weak, didn't bother to work it out p, admit you're obese but went on the slide anyway? And somehow it's the water park's fault?

Original poster
cheekymonk · 11/08/2017 20:01

The slides were all traffic lighted, e.g. Red for fastest and green for ok. This particular ride was amber. I should have got off in hindsight but somehow thought that oh they have let me stay on so it must be ok. They after all see people ride the slide all day every day and know the potential risks far more than I do. You can see by looking at me how large I am and others were laughing at me getting into the tyre. If weight was that much of a risk they should have taken me off ride.

OP posts:
Mychildcouldnotbreaatfeed · 11/08/2017 20:02

No - you should have taken some personal responsibility.

I'm sure the ride says ride at your own risk.

SoPassRemarkable · 11/08/2017 20:02

So the other three people had 145kg left between them??? Guess it depends how old the dc are but chances are you could have been over the total limit and if there are signs up then it's your responsibility to add up your total weights.

Even if you were all under the total weight I guess if one person is a lot heavier than the others it might make the ring more unstable and make it harder to hold on? But still not sure that's the water parks fault.

I'm sorry you were hurt.

Mummaofboys · 11/08/2017 20:03

No the lifeguard was not negligent, if you couldn't hold on when they asked you too at the beginning you should of gotten off the ride, it's nobody's fault but yours if you couldn't hold tight enough on or keep you back straight you should of looked at the risk and got off, nobody knows your limits only you.

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 11/08/2017 20:05

If weight was that much of a risk they should have taken me off ride.

No. You should have taken personal responsibility.

Do you speak good Spanish? If not how on earth do you know what they were radioing?

What exactly are you hoping to achieve?

Anasnake · 11/08/2017 20:06

If you were anxious, unsure, embarrassed or worried in any way then you should have taken yourself off the ride.

ChrisPrattsFace · 11/08/2017 20:08

Can I ask how you know they were talking about you? Were they speaking in English and making it clear?
A lot of things go on behind the scenes, there could have been other problems, possibly a swap over if staff at the bottom etc... it may have been nothing to do with you.
But I agree with others, and accident is an accident. Stop looking for blame, you chose to get on and chose to continue even though you had to wait - at any point you could have got off.
Hope you're feeling better.

Zoflorabore · 11/08/2017 20:10

Am I roughly correct that your weight is approx 26.5 stones?

If your dh and dc are slim then surely the ring would have been massively unbalanced?

To be fair op I am around 100 kilos so hardly skinny myself and have been on many of these types of rides all over the world, it has sometimes been a struggle to push us down in the first place! Was there a struggle in this case? Do you think the staff were talking about you?
Hope you're ok but I don't think there is a case of negligence to answer to-
On their part.

notapizzaeater · 11/08/2017 20:11

Surely there was a total weight notice (been to Scarborough today and it was max 280kg) so we couldn't all go down together and had to split up.

HensAndRabbits · 11/08/2017 20:15

Looking at the website there doesn't appear to be any weight restrictions. It does quite clearly state that you ride at your own risk though. I remember going there a couple of years ago and there were some absolutely massive blokes shooting down the rides so not sure your weight would have caused it. If you felt you fell off because you couldn't hold on tightly enough I would say it was your fault as you clearly need to be able to hold on!

Sorry you feel it ruined your holiday Flowers

GreenTulips · 11/08/2017 20:15

You need to contact your holiday insurers and let them deal with an investigation - it won't cost you anything other than filling in a few forms.

They will request the necessary safety procedures etc and let you know the outcome

You have nothing to lose

BuzzKillington · 11/08/2017 20:16

OMG OP. I am sorry, but are you around 26 stone?

At that weight, you should be very cautious and responsible for your own risk. I just can't see how you thought this ride was appropriate for you.

Youcanttaketheskyfromme · 11/08/2017 20:17

I don't understand why nobody takes responsibility for themselves anymore.

If you were struggling to sit in the tube and thought you might be over the weight limit but went on the ride anyway then the fault lies entirely with you.

You should know your weight and if it effects a ride you should be going on it.

Youcanttaketheskyfromme · 11/08/2017 20:17

Should not be.

BritInUS1 · 11/08/2017 20:18

'Had I known there was this much risk involved I wouldn't have taken kids there'

This is a silly thing to say all rides come with an element of risk. Thousands of people ride them every day with no problem. It was an accident you need to try and forget it and move on

MoonfaceAndSilky · 11/08/2017 20:20

This did mean I struggled to hold on as tight when ride finally did begin
If you didn't hold on tight enough, it was your fault not theirs. Please don't try and make money out of an accident.

safariboot · 11/08/2017 20:38

I'm going to go against the grain and say that in the UK at least I think you'd have a decent case. It's forseeable that a rider might not hold onto the ring, and for that to result in being completely ejected from the slide and seriously injured implies to me that the ride's design is dangerous.

Of course Spanish law might be different.

Oblomov17 · 11/08/2017 20:42

Was at Siam Park myself with ds's on Monday. Went on Kinaree, aswell as all the other rides. Saw many many large, larger and obese people on rides.

I can't quite see where the negligence is.....

SuperBeagle · 11/08/2017 20:43

It's called a voluntary assumption of risk.

When you entered the park, that was your acceptance of the contract which prevents you from suing them in this sort of situation. On entering the park, you accept that there is an element of risk which you've agreed to undertake. Short of a malfunction on one of the rides, you're assumed to be responsible for just about everything that happens.

So no, you were the one responsible here.

Xeneth88 · 11/08/2017 20:49

What fault did the water park have? Sorry you got hurt and I hope you recover well but they have done their bit, they can't judge your fatness to the pound, so would have estimated without wanting to offend a very large person.
I'm sure if they told you that you were to obese to ride it, with your attitude you'd have kicked off so as pp have said you shouldn't have gone on the ride if that anxious and worried but its an accident.

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