In January, a young boy’s birthday trip to Universal Studios in Orlando went from a celebration to a nightmare after his foot was “crushed” on the theme park’s E.T. Adventure ride. Now, the family is suing the park.
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According to PEOPLE, 11-year-old Tiago Perez and his family had traveled from Brazil to visit the park for his birthday back in January. However, when the E.T. Adventure ride the family was on reached the end is when the incident occurred. Per the family’s attorney Edmund Normand, Perez’s foot ended up wedged between the ride and the concrete platform. The result was a broken left leg while the boy’s foot and toes were severely fractured.
“He eventually was able to pull his leg out,” Normand said. “His family tried to help. People were screaming. There was blood everywhere. It was a horrible scene.”
Perez was transported to Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children where he underwent surgery. The child is now back in Brazil and recovering in a hospital there, but his medical bills for the incident are over $100,000.
In the family filed by the lawsuit they allege that Universal knew that the ride’s “design, manufacture, testing, construction and/or operation” created an unreasonably dangerous situation. It goes on to state that while there were caution signs, not only were they placed where they would not have been clearly visible to riders, but that Perez was unable to read them as they were in English while Perez speaks Portuguese.
According to Fox News, the lawsuit acknowledges that Perez’s feet, while still inside the ride, were not on the bike pedals positioned near riders’ feet, the ride lacked netting similar rides in the park have to protect riders’ legs.
E.T. Adventure originally opened at Universal Studios in 1990. On the ride, riders sit on seats resembling a bicycle similar to the one featured in the movie, though on the ride the handlebars come down to serve as lap bars. According to a representative for Universal, ride operators now perform a safety check to ensure hands and feet are inside the ride before arriving at the offloading platform.
The lawsuit is seeking $15,000 in damages.
