Liquid Leisure - Broken Leg - Aqua Park

[Hammeri1]

I have a cautionary tale and an appeal for help.

On Sunday June 19th I visited Liquid Leisure Inflatable Aqua Park in Windsor with my family. It was my surprise Father’s Day gift.

My 12 yr old daughter and I went on the main course along with around 60 other people. I was immediately concerned by the loose velcro joins between the inflatable sections.
The gaps and loose fabric were an obvious entrapment risk. After 15 mins I slipped on a small sloping section, my right leg went under the loose velcro and became trapped and then broke in 2 places, fibula and tibia.
I heard it break. The lifeguards got me to the bank but didn’t think I’d broken my leg, saying it was probably ligaments. They gave me ice and crutches. They then said it was ok for my eldest daughter to finish the session unaccompanied on the course and I’m ashamed to say I didn’t stop her. They gave me ice and crutches. I found my wife and with her help managed to get out of my wetsuit and dressed.
Finally I made my way about 200m, on crutches, to the exit.
We called 111 and they arranged for an assessment at Reading Hospital. There the triage nurse immediately suspected a broken leg which was quickly confirmed by X-ray.

I’ve just returned home after a week in hospital and an operation to fix a steel plate and screws to my fibula and wire around my tibia. I’m in plaster facing 2 weeks keeping my leg above my heart, another 4 completely non-load bearing, another 6 with very light load. Summer ruined for me and the whole family and my ankle will never be the same again.
I’ve never broken a bone or suffered a dislocation.

I reported the incident to Environmental Health who have already visited the site and begun an investigation.
They have specifically asked that if anyone else has been injured at the park to come forward and I would urge anyone who has suffered to do so. Please write to [email protected].

The park advertises family fun for kids 6yrs and up. What they don’t do is make you aware of the many risks of serious injury.
They insist you sign a waiver before participating but don’t emphasis the significant risk of injury.
Interestingly their terms and conditions do say that anyone prone to dislocating joints or who has suffered a dislocation avoid the park but this message is given no prominence on their site or physical media at the park.
On a warm day 4000 or more visit the park. There have
been serious accidents and there will be more. I want to make sure people only participate when they are fully aware of the risks.
My advice is find your water based fun another way.

@OnlyEverAutumn I'm not generally risk averse and I have quite an excellent inner risk assessment skill due to being a social worker (its part of our job) and one look at that place and its an instant no from me. Hell will freeze over before I allow my dc on anything like this.

Its so tragic about the poor girl. I cannot imagine what her family are going through it makes my heart ache. These places need shutting down. We don't know the ins and outs of the incident but its clear that it was waiting to happen. We have a non water inflatable place near us and its also under investigation as so many accidents have happened there.
They are usually run by inexperienced young staff who cannot possibly supervise everyone fully.

Thank you @Theillustratedmummy thats interesting. As I say my kids have been to loads of parties there (and I went too when they were younger!). I’m not sure how I feel about them now. Awaiting more information.

My son recently went on an inflatable course on top of a shallow indoor pool. There was a restriction of 6 children with 3 lifeguards and parents able to observe from the side.
my son is an ok swimmer, confident going underwater for short periods but he slipped off the side and went under the course.
he had a short panic but was able to get back to safety as he could reach the bottom of the pool with his feet.
this course was an all in one system so no chance of entanglement.
I thought the outdoor ones would be similar but after seeing this
I won’t be letting him go near our local outdoor one. RIP to the little girl who lost her life.

I have read about entanglement risks and getting trapped under /inbetween the inflatables. Are mixed ages ie children and adults allowed on one obstacle course at the same time?

My DD went to a pool party at our local baths that had an inflatable plaything. I think she was 9 at the time. Everyone laughed at me staying and watching but I found the whole idea terrifying.

Years ago we had a party there, one of DD's friends ended up with a broken toe. I realise now that nothing was reported as they said it was just a minor sprain..

There are issues with planning...a 4 day hearing was delayed from March due to Covid. Sorry - info from The Fail so I'm not linking.

The council say this is because the addition of the water park and its use as a party venue had deviated from its planning permission for water-skiing and windsurfing.
The planning row was set to be subject to a four day inquiry by the planning inspectorate in March this year.
But it was postponed after the inspector, who was due to attend the water park as part of the inquiry, fell ill with Covid.

Law regarding reporting to the HSE is covered by something called RIDDOR. Not all accidents qualify but for those that do a report must be submitted by the venue to the HSE within 10 days of the incident.

Regarding injuries to members of the public the regulations state:

“Non fatal accidents to non-workers (eg members of the public)
Accidents to members of the public or others who are not at work must be reported if they result in an injury and the person is taken directly from the scene of the accident to hospital for treatment to that injury. Examinations and diagnostic tests do not constitute 'treatment' in such circumstances.”

For more details on other injuries (fractures, head injuries etc) see the following link:

www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/reportable-incidents.htm#specified

I would be intrigued if LL actually keep a record of all accidents and follow up with the patient. They certainly did not follow up with us post injury to see if it was a ‘bad sprain’ or something more severe (unfortunately the latter).

Errmm.....an 11 year old child died?

All the reports I have seen including a witness, suggests the accident happened on the inflatable course. Why are life jackets not required ??
Everyone wears them at the waterpark we take our DC to, even the adults.
I hope the company is sued for every penny they are worth if this poor girl died whilst on the aqua park.

@Georgeskitchen i asked you what made you think it looked horrifying?

They wear buoyancy aids and under 16s wear a soft helmet on the course. It does also advise anyone that if you fall off the course, it's likely you'll go under water so being a competent swimmer is a must. Safety briefings are given prior to the activity and a waiver to understand there are risks involved in the activity.

witness reports state she was seen struggling by the beach not on the inflatables, hence she was without a life jacket / buoyancy aid (the park doesn’t require these to be worn at the beach)

I live in Windsor so was planning on going with a friend and her9 year old when she comes to visit later this month-- I think we will give it a miss and go to the big fun pool at Bracknell instead or an afternoon at Hampton lido!!

I've booked to go on similar and really not keen now. I may amend to paddle boarding
Has anyone been to the North Yorkshire one?

Shocked but not surprised to read these posts - having been to a couple of kid's parties at this venue, I thought the place was terribly overcrowded and the risks involved were staggeringly obvious. Thousands of visitors on a daily basis, particularly in warm weather, over a huge lake of murky, brown deep water. Giant inflatables often badly connected...and a ratio of lifeguards to children across the site, which was woefully inadequate. How this place was allowed to run as long as it did, is just beyond me. Hell would have frozen over before I'd go back. Surely the council have a lot to answer for with this - they knew they didn't have planning for this type of use, yet sat on their lazy laurels and did nothing. They had apparently booked a visit for the end of this year...completely shocking.
So so sad.

They'd be mad not to keep a log. If anyone does take them to court and There js no log, the victim could get away with lies.

Also these records would allow them
To analyse where snd when accidents happen and to whom and thus gain a better understanding of the hazards.

I’ve found that some similar aqua parks hold an HSE license granted by the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority.

www.hse.gov.uk/aala/

It appears to be a legal requirement for all parks like LL to hold this.

You can search for providers and LL don’t appear to be among them.

Just to contrast, however, Lincoln Waterpark is. Their safety video makes interesting viewing. For example, it advises a max of 4 per inflatable, no stepping on joins between sections, no swimming beneath inflatables.

www.lincolnwaterpark.co.uk/park-safety

www.hse.gov.uk/aala/public-information.htm

Information for the public
When is an Adventure Activities licence Required?

The Activity Centres (Young Persons’ Safety) Act 1995 and the Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations 2004 make it a legal requirement for providers of certain adventure activities for young people to undergo an inspection of their safety management systems and hold a licence.

It's just been on the news that Liquid Leisure at Datchet has been closed due to an accident that led to a child dying. here

@Hammeri1 That is correct, and the likely reason they are not on that list, is that they weren’t even licensed to operate as a water park in that capacity. Truly shocking that the council didn’t step in earlier…

It doesn’t sound like am aqua park comes under the remit of that license…it refers to water sports.

nonetheless, I still think LL is unsafe.

Following the link @IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads posted, it seems like the poor girl did die while using the inflatable park, rather than just being at the beach as pps have said.

@Confuzzled19 Not sure what licence they had, but according to many reports..”Liquid Leisure was served with an enforcement notice in December 2020, requiring the park to remove most of the buildings on the site amid claims they had breached planning rules.

The council say this is because the addition of the water park and its use as a party venue had deviated from its planning permission for water-skiing and windsurfing.
The planning row was set to be subject to a four day inquiry by the planning inspectorate in March this year.
But it was postponed after the inspector, who was due to attend the water park as part of the inquiry, fell ill with Covid..”

Clearly running it as a giant water themed party venue, for both children & adults alike, is way beyond the remit of a regular windsurfing venue. The sheer number of people that were being admitted to the venue on a daily basis, was hazardous in itself.

@Confuzzled19
I wondered about that. However Just-Wake in Lincolnshire has chosen to be licensed and they are a very similar operation ie. Wake and Ski park with an inflatable obstacle course. I think becoming licensed is the responsibility of the operator. The fact that very few parks are licensed, as far as I can tell, suggests it’s weakly enforced.

www.lincolnwaterpark.co.uk/park-safety

On the basis of a TripAdvisor review comparison I can’t find one safety related complain against Just-Wake but many for LL.