Man claims in lawsuit he ended up paralyzed after riding waterslide at Volcano Bay
A New York man is suing Universal, claiming that injuries suffered on a waterslide at Volcano Bay caused paralysis.
According to a lawsuit filed in Orange County Circuit Court, James Bowen and his family were spending a day at Volcano Bay when he and his daughters decided to ride the Punga Racers waterslide.
The lawsuit claims Bowen hit a wall of water as he exited the water slide into the wading pool. He said it caused his neck to violently snap back, leaving him facedown in the water and unable to move. His daughter and wife noticed something was wrong and flipped him over.
Doctors at Orlando Regional Medical Center performed a computerized tomography scan and, scan that, according to the lawsuit, it showed that Bowen had suffered a severe spinal cord compression along the C3 to C7 vertebrae. He was almost completely paralyzed, the lawsuit claims.
A state report released every quarter documenting injuries at Central Florida theme parks said only that a 47-year-old man suffered “numbness” after riding Punga Racers.
Bowen underwent surgery in which doctors removed part of his C3 to C7 vertebrae and installed screws and rods resulting in a partial fusion of this section of his spinal column, the lawsuit claims. When Bowen awoke, he was in a quadriplegic state, the suit said.
Bowen eventually began to regain use of his arms and legs, but the lawsuit claims he remains limited in what he can do. He was released from the hospital on Aug. 8, about a month after he was hurt.
“Bowen’s relationship with his wife and daughters suffers as he cannot do many of the activities he did prior to sustaining his injuries,” the lawsuit claims.
According to Universal’s website, there is a 150-pound weight limit for the Punga Racers slide. The lawsuit claims that limit was instituted after Bowen suffered his injury. The lawsuit says Bowen weighed 215 pounds the day he rode the slide.
The lawsuit is seeking more than $15,000 in damages for Bowen and his wife.