cultus lake waterpark: dad recounts ordeal after daughter suffers electric shock during field trip
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investigators at the cultus lake waterpark after an electrical malfunction caused electrocution injuries to 12 children on monday.
nick procaylo
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darin nielsen’s son landon, 11, and daughter bella, 13, were buzzing with excitement when he dropped them off at port coquitlam’s minnekhada middle school on monday morning.
the siblings were set for an end-of-school-year field trip to cultus lake waterpark, a year-end tradition for many schools in the lower mainland.
“they were oh-so excited about going to cultus lake because that’s what they’ve been looking forward to,” he told postmedia.
the brother and sister made their way out to the popular fraser valley attraction under the supervision of teacher chaperones, while nielsen started his work day.
then just before 1 p.m., nielsen’s wife called. the school had been in touch about an incident on the field trip with bella.
“at first, i thought — great, gotta go pick up my daughter because she’s misbehaving or something. that’s what i thought i was going to head to,” he said.
then as nielsen’s wife communicated more details through tears, he quickly realized it was much more serious and his daughter was in hospital in abbotsford with burns.
“once you hear ‘electrocution at cultus lake waterpark’ … you start going, oh my gosh,” he said. “so that’s all i knew when i was told to get out to abbotsford to the hospital.”
investigators at the cultus lake waterpark after an electrical malfunction caused electrocution injuries to 12 children on monday.
nick procaylo
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nielsen’s daughter was among a dozen children aged 12 and 13 who were injured in an electrical incident monday at the chilliwack water park.
ten of the 12 were taken to abbotsford regional hospital, while two — kids who became unconscious in the incident, according to nielsen — were flown to b.c. children’s hospital in vancouver. police said all 12 had sustained serious injuries but were in stable condition.
at least one other student was transferred to b.c. children’s on monday evening, and a fourth followed some hours later.
andrew steunenberg, the park’s chief administrative officer, said the cause is still under investigation, but that the children appear to have been hurt while in contact with a metal hand railing at the base of the zero-60 raceway ride.
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“that’s our observation at this time,” he said.
steunenberg said he did not have information on when the area was last inspected, but said the electrical work there is regulated and that the ride itself was inspected in may.
the park had initially announced a 48-hour closure to allow technical safety b.c. to investigate but has since extended the closure indefinitely. at least one metro school district notified parents on tuesday that all scheduled field trips to the water park had been cancelled.
“it’s open-ended until the investigation wraps and they didn’t really provide us with a timeline,” said steunenberg.
darin nielsen’s daughter, bella, 13, flashes a thumb’s up from her bed at abbotsford regional hospital. she was among a dozen kids injured in an electrical incident at cultus lake waterpark in chilliwack on monday. bella suffered a burn to her leg that left a red mark and some loss of sensation. she was cleared to go home on tuesday.
handout/darin nielsen
when nielsen and his wife got to the hospital, bella flashed them a big thumbs up. she had suffered a burn to her left leg near her ankle, leaving a bright red mark from where her body had been touching a metal railing that is believed to have come into contact with electricity. she also suffered a loss of sensation in her leg.
another parent told nielsen their son had been holding the railing with both hands, getting stuck when the electricity coursed through. their son was able to wrench his hands from the railing but was shocked a second time when he tried to pull a friend to safety, nielsen heard.
over the next 24 hours, the abbotsford hospital monitored bella and her classmates for internal organ damage. by tuesday, the mark on bella’s leg had slowly faded and sensation had begun to return.
following blood work and a visit from a physiotherapist, nielsen said his daughter was cleared to go home on tuesday evening, the fourth student to be discharged following three others earlier in the day.
the status of the remaining eight children in hospital is not known.
while upper fraser valley rcmp have said the incident does not appear to be criminal, const. brad holditch said tuesday that police remain involved in an investigation led by technical safety, helping to collect evidence such as statements and video footage.
a waterslide at the cultus lake waterpark after an electrical malfunction caused electrocution injuries to 12 children on monday.
nick procaylo
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in b.c., water parks are regulated by technical safety b.c.
water slides are treated as an “amusement device,” categorized alongside roller-coasters and subject to technical safety’s amusement devices safety program under the safety standards act.
before a slide opens to the public, an operator must be licensed and the ride permitted. technical safety says it issues operator licences and permits for each individual water slide in a pool or water park and periodically inspects water slides.
inspections run from march to september, when safety officers check the ride’s permit and licence, review the last inspection report to confirm past problems were fixed, examine the physical setup, run the ride, test the stop buttons, and comb through maintenance logs. the hands-on inspection of the ride’s components alone, technical safety says, can take anywhere from 20 minutes to many hours. if something’s wrong, the officer’s report lists the non-compliance and sets a deadline to fix it.
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