My Child Was Seriously Injured at a Water Park. What Do I Do?

1. Seek Immediate Medical Care and Ensure Your Child Is Safe

Water park injuries are serious and may happen from slip-and-fall incidents or unsafe park attractions. Start by asking your child where they are feeling any pain, and then take them to a local emergency room or urgent care facility. A serious injury like a fractured rib, brain injury, or organ damage may not show up right away, so it’s important to be examined as soon as possible. Asking for a copy of your child’s medical records after their examination can also help strengthen your case if you choose to take legal action in the future.

2. Document the Scene and Your Child’s Injuries

Documenting the scene is important to preserve and provide the most accurate evidence of what happened to your child. With more than a decade of experience in advocating for children who suffered serious injuries, we recommend these three steps to document the scene:

1. Take photos of your child’s injury and the area where it happened at the water park.
2. Speak with any witnesses and ask for their contact information.
3. Write down in a notebook or in your phone’s notes app what happened while it’s fresh on your mind.

3. Report the Incident to Park Management

It is critical that you file an incident report with the water park management team. This report should alert the water park and its operators to preserve any security footage that captured your child’s incident.

This written report from management will include important details on your child’s injury, including the incident that harmed your child, the aftermath, and the park’s response. You can ask for a copy of this report when they fill it out.

4. Act Fast and Speak with Our Child Injury Lawyers at The Button Law Firm

An injury at a water park can be challenging for both you and your child, but it’s important to reach out to our experienced child injury lawyers as soon as possible after the incident.

Serious child injuries at a water park are easily preventable when the park operates in compliance with safety standards. If a water park doesn’t follow those standards, then you have the right to take legal action and hold them accountable for your child’s injury. The following are common scenarios we’ve seen when helping parents after a child’s water park injury:

• Negligent lifeguards. Teenage and young adult lifeguards must keep track of many children at the water park. Don’t just rely on them for safety—always keep an eye on your child, especially when in wave pools.
• Poor maintenance. It’s not uncommon for rides, play areas, and structures to have problems with their upkeep. This includes neglecting to buff slides, budget for repairs, or fix broken features across the water park. 
• Unsafe rides. The federal government does not regulate amusement park rides, which include attractions at water parks. It’s up to each state to determine the level of regulation and monitoring of parks, so there’s no overall standard for ride safety.

Working with our team of compassionate and knowledgeable child injury lawyers will allow you to focus on your child and help them heal from their injuries. We will handle everything from preserving evidence and conducting our own investigation to dealing with insurance companies on your behalf. We will help guide you through every step to help you and your family move forward.

There is a two-year time limit, known as the statute of limitations, when you file a lawsuit in Texas. Call us at (214) 699-4409, email us at intake@buttonlawfirm.com, or fill out a contact form for a free case evaluation. We work on contingency, meaning we don’t charge or collect any upfront fees to start your case.