Strickland, who weighed about 334 pounds at the time of the incident—several dozen pounds over Blizzard Beach’s weight limit—claims that he was ejected from his Disney inner tube as a result of the ride’s “exhilarating speeds.”
A Florida man has filed a lawsuit against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, claiming that he sustained “permanent catastrophic injuries” after riding a waterpark slide at Walt Disney World Resort in 2021.
According to CBS News, plaintiff Eugene Strickland is seeking $50,000 or more in damages. In his lawsuit, filed late last month in an Orange County, Florida, court, Strickland claims to have sustained a range of physical, mental, and emotional injuries after riding on the Downhill Double Dipper at Disney’s Blizzard Beach park.
“Our client was severely injured on a ride at Disney’s Blizzard Beach,” personal injury lawyer John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan told CBS News. “He has filed a lawsuit alleging that it was the defendant’s lax safety measures and oversight that contributed to those injuries. We are pursuing justice for him and working to hold Disney accountable for their alleged negligence.”
Morgan and his firm, notes CBS MoneyWatch, are representing Strickland in his action.
Strickland, who weighed about 334 pounds at the time of the incident—several dozen pounds over Blizzard Beach’s weight limit—claims that he was ejected from his Disney inner tube as a result of the ride’s “exhilarating speeds.”
After being separated from the inner tube, Strickland landed on the slide’s plastic surface, causing him to sustain “serious bodily injury” resulting in “disability, scarring, [and] disfigurement.” The lawsuit also claims that Strickland continues to experience “mental anguish” and the “loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life.”
Attorneys for Strickland say that Walt Disney World owed their client a duty of care, and that it violated that duty of care by acting negligently. Disney, the complaint alleges, was aware of the “safety hazard” and the “concealed trap” that caused Strickland’s injuries.
The lawsuit provides over a dozen different examples of alleged negligence at the park, including Disney’s decision to allow the “unrestricted use of an unsafe high-speed water slide.” It also indicates that Disney failed to properly train its staff and ignored its own safety policies when letting Strickland go on the waterslide.
“These injuries are permanent and continuing within a degree of medical probability, and Plaintiff will suffer these losses in the future,” Strickland’s lawsuit states.
Sources
Florida man sues Walt Disney World over “permanent catastrophic injuries” from water park ride
Man left ‘permanently disfigured’ by Disney waterpark slide after flying down at high speed
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