Water Slide Builder Settles Injury Lawsuit for $2.75 Million

When we head to a water slide park, we expect to have a tremendously fun time. It’s fun to be able to have some fun, to relax and to just let ourselves go wild. The fun is all there in front of you, and the fact you’re mostly landing in water makes it all good fun. However, accidents do happen – and when they do happen, they can often be terrifying. For Anthony Dos Santos, a construction worker, it was the latter.

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Twenty-three at the time, he was injured at the Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pa. – Dos Santos has now settled with the ride’s builder for around $2.75m. Unfortunately, the plaintiff had lost his leg during the incident.

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The court documentation showed that the incident took place on April 23^rd, 2014. Dos Santos was holding a tagline which is normally used to help control the suspended column, walking in front of and alongside the forklift. The forklift though, stopped suddenly and he was pulled directly over the wheel of the forklift due to the movement of the beam. It crushed his foot.

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The lead plaintiff’s attorney from Stark & Stark, Tyler Tomlinson, said via a statement: “There was a much safer way to transport columns through the park, one that would not have presented hazards. Unfortunately, there also was not a supervisor on-site, as required by the contract, and the crew was understaffed.”  

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Unfortunately, post-incident surgical work was not enough to save his foot, suffering from necrosis. His right leg was amputated below the knee, with the aim of a prosthetic fitting. Dos Santos, sadly, suffered from several infections – and also suffered from phantom limb pain. Adding on top of this the emotional toll of the incident, and Dos Santos was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder with depressed mood.

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Married and with children, he was unable to work and, to this day, still suffers from chronic back pain and phantom limb pain. The secured fee would cover a fee for lost wages, pain and suffering as well as medical fees.

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Whitewater West had a contract with Cedar Fair, which stated a supervisor was needed onsite. Cedar Fair was unaware, however, that a third party, KP Construction, was to take part in assisting the project. The owner of KP Construction, and second-in-command, were not present due to absence, and it meant a “skeleton crew” were moving the steel column on-site – a dangerous job.

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However, the attorney for Dos Santos claimed that Whitewater was responsible as there was no supervisor at the Dorney Park construction site. Indeed, no Whitewater employee had been on-site for a considerable period of time prior to the injury. With claims that safer ways of moving the column were ignored, too, leading to the eventual resolution.

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