The inflatable assault course at a water park where an 11-year-old girl died is slated to reopen tomorrow, despite parents raising safety concerns up to a year before her death.
At approximately 3.55pm, emergency personnel raced to Liquid Leisure, in Datchet, Berkshire, before the girl, who had been reported missing, was recovered soon after 5.10pm. She was brought to Wexham Park Hospital, where she died a short time later.
This is despite the fact that parents raised safety concerns about the water park nearly precisely a year ago, only to be given free tickets to return.
Melissa Henson, a mother of two, claimed her own 11-year-old daughter was in a’very similar predicament’ after falling between two inflatables and getting her head’stuck in the water.’
‘I’m confident she would have drowned if my husband and I hadn’t been watching,’ she continued. We brought it to management’s attention, and they apologized and offered us a coupon to return. “We’re sorry about that, and we hope you have a better experience next time,” they stated.
‘I didn’t want to go back and gave it to a friend, but I subsequently phoned them and told them not to use it because I didn’t believe it was safe.’
‘I was watching the news and thought to myself, ‘This might have been my daughter.’ She would have been trapped if I hadn’t been yelling. She might have died of suffocation.
‘I was wondering whether anything similar might happen to someone else.’ It shook me to my core. Fortunately, my kid was not. She was aware of my fear.’
Another mother, who did not want to be identified and whose 13-year-old daughter was at the water park when the event happened on Saturday, said when asked whether it was OK to reopen the park tomorrow: ‘I think that’s awful! Completely wrong in light of what has occurred and the concerns voiced.’ ‘We go to the lakeside soft play area [part of the Liquid Leisure complex] on a regular basis, but yesterday was the first time we were issued wristbands since they indicated the park was “overbooked and anticipating huge crowds,” said Sandy Kaur, who attended the water park yesterday morning.
It comes as it has been revealed that the water park is embroiled in a dispute with local planning officials, who claim that portions of the property, notably the aqua assault course, do not presently have the necessary planning permit.
The park, which the municipality claims has approval for water skiing and windsurfing but not as a “aqua theme park,” is presently the subject of a four-day public investigation.
The investigation, which might lead to the closure of the Total Wipeout-style inflatable course, was scheduled to begin in March. However, it was postponed at the last minute owing to the inspector being sick with Covid.
Witnesses today described how the water park was plunged into ‘chaos’ on Saturday when the 11-year-old child went missing.
A 41-year-old mother from South Buckinghamshire, who did not want to be identified, was at the ‘crowded’ water park with her teenage daughter on Saturday, having previously been numerous times.
The lady described the event as “an awful tragedy” for the girl’s family and friends, while she and others at the park experienced “shock” and “helplessness” at the scene.
‘My teenage daughter and her friend jumped in the lake around 3 p.m. for their session,’ she said. I went to buy a drink and something to eat, then about 3.20pm asked another mother who was already sitting on a bench if I might join her.
‘I began trying to spot my daughter since she was wearing a wetsuit and not many others were, but it was hard due to the sheer amount of people, so I simply started watching others.’
‘I immediately observed that not everyone was wearing life jackets, and I spotted a young female lifeguard closest to where we were seated not paying attention and peering across the open ocean instead of the people she was supposed to be looking at.’
The mother admitted to feeling ‘uneasy’ about the lifeguard-to-visitor ratio, but said, ‘I reasoned with myself that my daughter and friend were wearing life jackets and the session would soon be done.’
Soon after, she claimed, a lifeguard started shouting at them to get off the inflatable course.
‘We then realized a youngster was missing as two panicked mothers rushed by yelling the child’s name,’ she said.
‘There seems to be no action plan with the LL employees. A couple lifeguards ran into the water and began looking in what looked to be a haphazard manner.
‘Another member of staff began questioning other members of staff whether they were trained as lifeguards.’ Nobody seemed to be in command, and there was no coordination in dealing with the crisis.
‘We didn’t know what to do with the parents and children who were left on the riverbank since there was no communication and no evacuation protocol.’
‘At LL, there is only one little entry and exit, and the emergency services responded promptly and in large numbers; they couldn’t have done more.’
‘However, since we weren’t advised what to do and didn’t want to obstruct their attempts to enter the park, we just stood by and watched the search and rescue divers look in the water.’
‘After that, my daughter said she didn’t feel comfortable on the inflatable since there were deflated parts and holes between barriers that anybody could have simply slid down, leaving them below the inflatable.’
The mother said that her daughter had attended a safety briefing beforehand and was advised not to push in strangers, not to use harsh language, and that a whistle would be sounded 10 minutes before the session concluded and a second whistle would be blasted after the session was done.
The victim had come to the location to participate in the water assault course with buddies for a birthday celebration.
As many as 40 persons, including members of the public, are said to have jumped into the river as part of a desperate rescue operation.
Police are now looking into the death of the girl, called Kyra by witnesses, which is being considered as unexplained.
Another tourist expressed their worries on Twitter as well. Neil Garrett, a TV producer, said he visited his family “a few weeks ago” and had “problems” with the number of people permitted on the course at one time.
‘I took my kids to Liquid Leisure in Windsor a few weeks ago,’ he added. It’s fair to say the venue has several flaws, the most serious of which being the number of people allowed on the floating obstacle course each session. It seemed to be 200-250 individuals. That’s a lot to keep track of for the lifeguards.
‘The second was some extremely antisocial behavior on the part of gangs of guys. At one point during our session, everyone was told to leave because a mob had pushed a lifeguard in. How are the lifeguards keeping an eye out for younger tourists if yobs like these are taking their attention?
‘Due of overpopulation, it is quite simple for parents to get separated from their children. This is exacerbated by the fact that there are few spots to get back on the course if you fall in. I had to swim a considerable distance to locate one, which meant I’d be apart from my 12-year-old for minutes at a time.’
‘Overall, this unfortunate girl’s death at Liquid Leisure was a disaster waiting to happen,’ he continued. Appalling.’
Another frequent visitor, who watched the sad events on Saturday, told MailOnline that they had gone to the water park “many times” previously, but that it was “busier” than normal.
‘My teenage daughter and her friend jumped in the lake around 3 p.m. for their session,’ she said.
‘I began trying to spot my daughter since she was wearing a wetsuit and not many others were, but it was hard due to the sheer amount of people, so I simply started watching others.’
‘I immediately observed that not everyone was wearing life jackets, and I spotted a young female lifeguard closest to where we were seated not paying attention and glancing across the open ocean rather than at the individuals she was supposed to be looking at.’
‘At this point, I grew worried; it didn’t seem secure, and the ratio of young lifeguards to people seemed out of scale.’
‘I told myself that my daughter and her friend were wearing life jackets and that the session will be finished shortly.’ ‘Despite the fact that I sensed it was an accident waiting to happen.’ Earlier this year, the aqua park’s management expressed “great concern” that it may have to close, putting 300 jobs at risk, owing to a planning dispute with the municipality.
According to the Maidenhead Advertiser, Liquid Leisure was presented with an enforcement notice in December 2020, forcing the park to demolish the majority of the structures on the property due to charges of planning violations.
According to the council, this is because the installation of the water park and its usage as a party venue violated the council’s planning authorization for water skiing and windsurfing.
The planning inspectorate was scheduled to conduct a four-day investigation into the planning dispute in March of this year.
However, it was postponed when the inspector, who was scheduled to tour the water park as part of the investigation, became sick with Covid.
Before the hearing, Stuart Marston, managing director of Liquid Leisure Windsor, told the BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting Service that he thought the park will shut.
‘It genuinely terrifies me to lose children’s activities that help grow confidence in the water with their peers and to reduce safe access to water for thousands of people during the summer months,’ he added.
‘As a result of the council’s move, we will no longer be able to train much-needed open water lifeguards in Datchet.’
‘The onus is on sites and developers to follow planning restrictions and ensure they have the required consents or permission for planned works,’ said a spokesman for the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead.
‘In the case of Liquid Leisure, the council issued an enforcement notice in December 2020 because the council believes that a material change of use occurred without planning permission, from water-skiing and windsurfing use to a mixed use that includes an aqua theme park, caravan and camping site, party venue, and a child’s play centre, facilitated by extensive unauthorised works in the Green Belt, a Flood Zone, and Local Wildlife Site.
‘We previously urged Liquid Leisure to regularize their situation by submitting a planning application for a smaller-scale organization that would mitigate the damage that has been discovered, but the company is appealing our enforcement notice.’
MailOnline has reached out to Liquid Leisure for comment.
Witnesses said the girl, Kyra, was meant to be on the Total Wipeout-style challenge with around 10 pals for an hour-long session at 3 p.m. on Saturday when the tragedy occurred. At approximately 3.40pm, the pleasure turned to horror when the mother of one of the children began yelling her name.
Her concern is said to have been triggered when Kyra did not return from the inflatable session, in which participants are equipped with lifejackets, causing parents and staff to begin looking for changing facilities at the facility.
Some youngsters told staff that Kyra couldn’t swim and was last seen ‘diving underneath’ and ‘not coming to the surface,’ resulting in a frenzied 90-minute search involving 30 to 40 people.
Witnesses allege they waited for at least 40 minutes before emergency personnel came.
It comes after witnesses said that after 20 minutes, lifeguards began tearing apart the inflatable equipment, including pieces of the neighboring Ninja Warrior obstacle course, in an attempt to identify the missing child.
Others said that anxious employees asked customers for goggles so they could search for Kyra underwater.
Witnesses lambasted the water park yesterday for allegedly lacking an emergency plan and said that adolescent lifeguards were ‘unprepared’ to cope with the catastrophe.
Others commented on the ‘crazy number of people on the inflatables,’ which are pre-booked in 50-minute increments, before the disaster hit.
Another reported that on Saturday, personnel at the park informed them that they were “overbooked and anticipating enormous people” over the weekend.
James Bull, 25, was one of the guests who attempted to locate Kyra. He told the Mail, ‘It was a total catastrophe.’
‘I observed the woman calling out for Kyra, then I ran across a couple of teenage ladies who claimed to be Kyra’s pals.’
‘They gave me a photo and claimed she was wearing a black bikini and grey shoes.’ They reported she couldn’t swim and was struggling before going under.’
‘The number of individuals in the pool area should also be limited,’ he said. ‘How could they not see her sink?’
‘How come they didn’t have goggles or diving equipment?’ There were more people and parents hunting for her in the water than lifeguards; it was a farce.’
‘There didn’t appear to be a single adult in control,’ said a 32-year-old mother-of-two who was also at the park on Saturday. It was heinous.
‘One of the lifeguards refused to enter because he didn’t want to get his trainers wet.’
‘Some were yelling for goggles. I can’t even begin to tell you how horribly it was handled. The mother and her pals were waiting in line for the main inflatable course when the lady approached and claimed she had lost a kid.
‘It was bizarre. It only grew more serious, and the environment became more and more quiet.
‘As a mother, you can’t even begin to understand what she was going through.’ It was terrifying. I’m simply so upset right now. There didn’t seem to be any kind of emergency plan.’
‘Lifeguards were rushing all over the barriers and checking beneath them,’ said another witness. They were hunting for her while disassembling the Ninja Warrior (inflatable obstacle course) along the shore. Staff began asking clients with eyewear in order to search for her underwater.’
‘It’s a fairly busy location with a lot of people, but after about 15 minutes it just went completely quiet,’ said another witness. I can’t even express how tense things were.
‘It became evident within a few minutes when they emptied the inflatables and had all the crew on them that something was really wrong.’
She has criticized the park, claiming that “there was no emergency plan.” They lacked a tannoy system and an alert.’ Others stated how scores of members of the general public assisted in the search and rescue effort.
‘They (friends and relatives of the child) were begging all of us to yell her name, describing her as shoulder height on an adult, with shoulder-length brown hair,’ said one witness, a 34-year-old lady who lives outside Reading and was at the park with her boys on Saturday.
‘There was one woman in particular who was either her mother or a close relative and was obviously trembling and weeping while begging for her.
‘As the crisis progressed, you could see the building terror among observers with each passing minute.’
She also lauded the actions of lifeguards during the rescue. ‘The lifeguards were genuinely great,’ the lady claimed.
‘I’d say there were approximately 30-40 individuals in the water, a mix of what seemed to be workers and the general public.’
When Kyra went missing, there were between 30 and 50 youngsters on the assault course, according to witnesses.
For £27 per person, the park’s birthday party packages include a 50-minute session on the aqua park, wetsuit rental, plus food and drink.
The park also hosts stag and hen parties, with clients drinking at the licensed bar following their session.
The lake is up to six meters deep in certain places, making it unsafe for non-swimmers. ‘No corners were ever made on safety,’ said Gavin Springett, who worked on training at the park last summer.
He said that there were lifeguards on every stretch of the inflatable course, that personnel is educated on water rescue on a regular basis, and that buoyancy jackets are required on all inflatables, including for adults.
Meanwhile, clients or their parents are required to sign a release stating that individuals participating are ‘capable swimmers’ who are ‘confident in deep open water’ and have a’reasonable degree of fitness.’
It also requires participants to understand that taking part in the training involves “an element of hazard and risk of bodily or mental harm.”
Aside from the normal aqua park, which is available to youngsters as young as six but is suggested for those aged 10 and over, there is a ‘junior’ aqua park for children ages four to nine.
In May, the country’s first Ninja Warrior Aqua Park debuted, based on the successful ITV assault course program of the same name.
Thames Valley Police Superintendent Michael Greenwood praised the courage of the parents who leapt into the lake last night.
‘This has been an extraordinarily stressful and unpleasant situation for those concerned,’ he added.
‘I am aware that numerous members of the public entered the water immediately after the girl became disoriented, but were unable to find her.’ I’d want to praise them on their bravery and courage.’
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends, and all those impacted by this profoundly unfortunate and disturbing occurrence,’ Liquid Leisure stated in a statement.
‘As Thames Valley police are still conducting an investigation, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further, but we will continue to fully support and assist them throughout the process.’
Stuart Marston is the owner of Liquid Leisure. Mr Marston is a’multiple national and world champion in towed water sports, who has guided Team GB athletes to countless triumphs,’ according to the company’s website.
According to the website, Mr. Marston “began his adventure in getting more people active via his love for water sports” when his firm took over the Datchet water sports complex in 2002.