Gold Coast's WhiteWater World sued for more than $1 million over guest's alleged waterslide injury

The WhiteWater World waterpark on the Gold Coast is being sued for more than $1 million after an eight-year-old girl allegedly suffered serious internal injuries on one of its waterslide.

The child allegedly lost half a litre of blood after the incident in November 2020 and was forced to spend four nights in Logan Hospital during recovery. Legal documents filed to the Brisbane Supreme Court allege that she had to return five times for further treatment.

Shine Lawyers filed a statement of claim in July on behalf of the girl’s mother, Sarah, alleging the girl was left “bleeding profusely” after she hit the water forcefully while riding the Fully 6 slide at WhiteWater World.

As reported by NCA NewsWire, the legal action seeks $1,027,561.33 in damages against park owner Ardent Leisure and installer Swimplex Aquatics.

The claim alleges the girl has missed school as she continues to suffer physical and psychological symptoms, including ongoing bleeding, abdominal pain, anxiety and nightmares.

The statement of claim notes that the girl was riding the slide on her back with her feet downwards and her leg crossed as instructed by the ride attendant, explaining “due to the forces encountered by her body while making the descent, her legs became uncrossed by the time she reached the splashdown area.

“Due to her legs becoming uncrossed … (the girl) made a forceful impact with the water, resulting in water entering her body at force (and) causing a significant tear or rupture of her vaginal wall and bleeding.

“As a result of her injuries, (the girl) left the water slide bleeding profusely from between her legs and required the use of a towel to stop the bleeding at the clinic at White Water World.”

Advising that the girl continues to deal with the trauma nearly three years on from the incident, Shine Lawyers National Practice Leader, Bree Smith commented “this was an incredibly traumatic injury for somebody to suffer at any age, let alone a girl who’s just eight years old.

“We’re alleging that park staff failed to properly educate (the girl) 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 zone who responded to the injury area at the time, and that it was up to (Sarah) to get her help for what was plainly a serious injury.”

The claim also alleges that her mother was diagnosed with PTSD as a result of what happened to her daughter.

The lawsuit alleges both Ardent and Swimplex Aquatics are liable because staff failed to warn Sarah and the girl that she needed to keep her legs crossed throughout the entire descent down the slide, and that there was a risk her legs would uncross involuntarily and that could lead to injury.

It also alleges despite the Fully 6 waterslide being described as a ‘high intensity’ slide, it was “reasonably foreseeable” that children as young as the eight-year-old girl would ride it and “would encounter strong acceleration and deceleration forces”.

The claim alleges Ardent breached its duty of care to the girl by failing to warn her about these forces and not instructing her to keep her legs crossed or there “would be a risk of water entering her body with a high impact and associated risk of injury”.

The claim also alleges that Ardent had failed to conduct a risk assessment or implement appropriate risk control measures.

Image: WhiteWater World's Fully 6 waterslide where an eight-year-old girl allegedly suffered serious internal injuries in 2020. Credit: Ardent Leisure.