UK children seriously injured by flying jumping castle
09:00 NZST Wed Jun 1 2011
MSN NZ
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Children on jumping castle (Image: Leigh Blackall@Flickr)
Three children in the UK were seriously injured after a jumping castle they were playing in was lifted off the ground by a wind gust before crashing into a telegraph pole.
Seven-year-old Koby Dakin, his brother Kyle Dakin, 10, and eight-year-old Imogen Wright were thrown into the air after winds exceeding 60 km/h ripped the castle from its supports during a christening party at the White House Hotel in Whitby, North Yorkshire, at the weekend.
"It just took off and flew up and spun around in the air," the father of the two injured boys, Damien Young, told Sky News.
"I saw my son laid on the floor and the other two holding their heads,"
Mr Young’s son Koby was airlifted to hospital suffering a broken leg, two arm fractures, a broken rib, punctured lung and head trauma, while his older brother was treated in hospital for a leg injury.
Imogen Wright was hospitalised with head injuries and a concussion.
Jumping castles were once a fixture at children's birthday parties, but a series of accidents in which they have become air-born have led many to question their safety.
Australia has not seen a jumping castle related death since 2001, but the number of incidents where strong winds have uprooted jumping castles are becoming more frequent, a representative from Kidsafe Victoria told the Nine Network’s A Current Affair earlier this month.
She said while flying jumping castles are a cause for concern the real danger is falls.
"Seventy per cent of all injuries on jumping castles occur from falls, most of these result in fractures… there can also be concussions," she said.
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