When families head to amusement parks, parents often think about the super long lines they'll encounter or the small fortune they'll shell out paying for food and drinks — NOT a freak accident happening to their kid. Over the weekend, aĀ 10-year-old boy flew off a three-story waterslide, and the video isĀ so disturbing, it just might inspire you to skip the water park and break out the trash bags and water hose in your own backyard for the sake of summer fun.
The unnamed child was enjoying a ride on the Emerald Plunge — part of a six-waterslide tower located in a new Dublin, California, water park called "The Wave"Ā —Ā that ended in the most alarming way.
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Surveillance video shows the 10-year-oldĀ sliding down the three-story open waterslide before skidding off the side and crashing onto the pavement.
Embedded content: https://www.youtube.com/embed/kbRtRqVNmO8
So scary, right?!
Thankfully, this little boy only suffered minor injuries, but the sight of the child falling off a slide this high is what nightmares are truly made of.
Linda Smith, theĀ Dublin assistant city manager who was next to the waterslide during the incident, tellsĀ East Bay Times, "He got up immediately and, as any boy would be, he was stunned.Ā I was worried if he was mentally okay, but physically he just had some scrapes."
A witness who saw this poor kid's accident initially thought the boy died. "I thought he was dead at first, he hit the ground pretty hard," the unnamed bystander told WCNC News.
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Since the incident, The Wave has made the decision to close both the Emerald Plunge and another nearby waterslide, the "Dublin Screamer," for reevaluation and will not reopen the attraction until officials at the water park figure out what happened.
"Whenever we have an incident — no matter what magnitude — where someone gets injured, we will shut the slide down and make sure that the slide is operating safely," Jim Rodems, city park director, tells CBS News.
With school wrapping up for summer and children screaming to go somewhere fun, it's only natural for parents who've seen this video to feel anxious about their child riding certain rides at amusement parks — especially after a young boy died on a waterslide at an amusement park last year. One can only hope thrill destinations are taking the necessary precautions to prevent unthinkable accidents like this from ever happening again.
