What was planned to be a fun-filled birthday celebration at CoolRunnings Cape Town in Bellville, soon came to a crashing halt at the end of the ride when a 13-year-old and her friend’s shared toboggan was hit from behind by a young man on the track.
The teenager suffered a tear to her ear resulting in numerous stitches and was diagnosed with a concussion, following multiple trips to the clinic and hospital.
Months down the line, the teenager still suffers from back- and shoulder pain.
‘Full-speed impact’
Her mother, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of the child, expressed concern about the family park’s enforcement of its health and safety regulations and park rules, following the incident on Saturday 30 November last year.
“According to the witnesses and the parents of the birthday girl, my daughter and one of her friends shared a toboggan on this ride down the track. As they slowed down and came to a stop near the end, an older male, who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, collided into them at full-speed,” the mother detailed.
She continued that the force of the impact caused her daughter to lose grip of her cellphone that fell a distance from her hand, while recording a video of their ride.
Health & Safety
“The parents of the birthday girl took my daughter to the first aid team on site, where the staff cleaned the wound. Later that day, her father went to speak to the management. Unfortunately, he was met with rudeness and indifference … ”
The father told TygerBurger he approached CoolRunnings’ management to get closure on the incident and learn more about the park’s enforcement of health and safety regulations.
“I also felt bad for the birthday girl whose special day was ruined by the accident as it happened after their very first ride on the toboggan. It was an expensive outing cut short by this traumatic event.
“In my experience, the park’s management did not express any sympathy, was impatient by further inquiry and simply referred us to seek legal advice to address the incident further,” said the father.
The mother of the birthday girl’s experience and account of the day was similar with that of the teenager’s parents.
The birthday girl’s mother remarked that management was not supportive to the unfortunate turn of events.
“We were more concerned about my daughter’ friend’s injury and immediately proceeded to leave the premises and seek medical help. I had no interaction with the young man responsible for the accident. But my husband did speak to him and his group who, for the most part, were unapologetic. They continued to be seen drinking beer at a table in the family park.
“To this day, we still have a bunch of ride tokens from the R880 Family Combo package, unused.”
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’Enter at own risk’
According to CoolRunnings management, the young man was issued a warning.
The managing director of CoolRunnings, Frank Unger, confirmed that the park recorded an incident report following the accident on 30 November.
Unger was, however, unable to share this report with TygerBurger, citing the park’s respective insurance policy’s imposed confidentiality. He reiterated that the park’s health and safety policy clearly stated that enjoyment of the family park is done at own risk, and the park is not to be held financially or directly liable for injuries.
Much to the disappointment of the teenager’s parents, the park management was unable to secure or facilitate any personal information of the man responsible for causing the accident that led to her injuries.
Here, Unger argues, that in case a person’s personal information is requested in response to incidents of such nature, the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) is cited as protection against such intervention.
Following numerous correspondence between the teenager’s parents and CoolRunnings, a meeting was held between them and park management and their insurance broker at the park’s premises last week.
“We are sorry about the incident, which is a very unfortunate and also an isolated one in our 20 years of operation,” Unger said in response to TygerBurger.
“We constantly strive to improve our safety precautions, which are already exceeding world-wide standards, compared to any other Toboggan Family Park. We appreciate the input by the involved parties, which we will discuss with the international headquarter and our insurance company. We are not sure how to apprehend someone that has committed a hit-and-run accident on our premises, but are happy to share such ideas with you going forward,” Unger concluded.
