NURSE TELLS OF AGONY AFTER BREAKING BACK IN FOAM PIT
ADENTAL nurse says she was left “screaming in agony” after she broke her back at a trampoline park.
Lucy Jones, 19, says she was injured jumping into a foam pit, adding: “As I screamed in agony, my friends rushed over to help me.
“I landed in a seating position, as we’d been told to do. But, when I landed, I felt the worst pain I have ever been through in my whole life. For a while, I couldn’t breathe or feel anything.”
She says a member of staff rushed over and asked her what was wrong.
“I said I couldn’t feel my legs and he called another member of staff to see me,” Lucy claimed. “All the while I was screaming in agony, but they said I would need to get out of the foam pit, something I knew I couldn’t do on my own.
“Then, without any warning, two members of staff grabbed me by the arms and dragged me out of the pit on to a mat.
“My friends were saying, ‘She can’t move,’ and were trying to get them off me, but once out of the pit they then told me I would need to walk over to the first aid area.
“I was slumped on the mat, in complete agony. But, because no one seemed to be taking me seriously, I really questioned if I was being overdramatic by screaming the place down.”
Lucy’s friend Sophie phoned for an ambulance, Lucy claims, adding that she was “begging to go to hospital”.
“I felt like my left leg was paralysed, as I just couldn’t move it,” she told the Press Association.
Lucy, from Northop in Flintshire, was taken by ambulance from the Flip Out trampoline park in Chester to the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Her friends rang her parents Gill, 49, a teacher, and Geraint, 55, a scientist, and they met her at the hospital, where she had been given gas and air “so was in less agony”.
An x-ray revealed a fractured vertebra in her spine and Lucy was told she would need to be transferred to the spinal service at The Walton Centre, Liverpool.
She said: “Mum and I burst into tears. I was absolutely terrified. The only thing I could think was, ‘Will I ever walk again?’”
The next morning, Luy had a fivehour operation to fit rods into her back, enabling it to heal.
“When I got out of surgery, and came to, that’s when everything hit me. It shouldn’t have happened, and I shouldn’t be in this position,” she said.
Having rehabilitation every day in hospital, after five days, Lucy was discharged.
“That was probably the hardest time for me. I was trying to be positive, but I was basically housebound for four months,” she said.
“I became depressed and started thinking about how unfair it was what had happened to me. It shouldn’t have happened, I shouldn’t have broken my back.”
Lucy is about to start legal proceedings against Flip Out Chester. The claim form, which starts the action, is set to issued later this month.
She said: “When I landed after my jump, I could barely even talk except to say I didn’t think I could get up. I was an 18-year-old girl at the time, and had so much of my life ahead of me. I’d just started my dream job of being a dental nurse and there was so much I wanted to do. Even just going out with my friends, and wearing high heels, but instead I faced a long recovery needing constant physiotherapy.”
A spokesperson for Flip Out UK said they have replaced the Tower Jump, which Lucy jumped from, with a new battle beam attraction, adding: “Millions of people have visited Flip Out trampoline and adventure parks across the UK and we are proud of our safety record.
“Safety is our number one priority and we strive to ensure that everyone who visits can enjoy all of the activities in a safe environment.
“We have been advised by our legal team that it is inappropriate to comment about this particular case at this time.”
Cheshire West and Chester Council has launched an investigation into the park. In February, another young woman, Liza Jones, from Wrexham, suffered a back fracture and burst vertebrae after landing in the foam pit.
Liza, 26, said she was scared of her future following the incident at Flip Out. On landing in the pit at the bottom of the jump she said she felt a searing pain in her back and was rushed to hospital.
Medics diagnosed a back fracture and burst vertebrae and she underwent surgery at Liverpool’s Walton Centre to have metal plates and screws inserted in her back.
Councillor Karen Shore, Cheshire West and Chester council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “A detailed investigation is still ongoing to establish the facts of the incidents at Flip Out Chester that resulted in a number of people suffering injuries.
“We expect to have completed the evidence gathering stage of the investigation early this year. The investigation is being carried out under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and will consider if any offences have been committed.”
Lucy is going to Tanzania to volunteer as a dental nurse. To donate visit: http://go.pressassociation. com/e/314511/owdfunding-lucyjones-tanzania/p6lk/290912056