If you think America is lawsuit-happy, wait until you hear this story from England.
Two drunk friends who snuck into a waterpark and sped down a waterslide at 2 a.m. broke their legs when they encountered the slide’s blocked exit. Now, they say they plan to sue.
Claire Vickers, 46, and Barry Douglas, 44, said they were drunk when they broke into Aldershot Lido this August, a popular waterpark in Hampshire, just outside of London.
Appearing in wheelchairs on ITV’s “This Morning,” the pair shared the details of their harrowing experience.
After spending four hours drinking at a local watering hole, Vickers met Douglas at a party at his home, where the two continued their drinking session. While intoxicated, they decided to wander over to The Lido for a dip in the pool. Crawling under a fence surrounding the waterpark, the two climbed the stairs of a tube slide and naked, Douglas put his legs around Vickers so they could sit together at the top. Hurtling full speed down the tube, they didn’t notice the blocked exit until it was too late.
They slammed into to a solid steel barrier at the bottom of the slide feet first, breaking the bones of their feet and legs, and they remained there for three and a half hours before they were rescued.
Vickers said she broke one of her legs in half.
“My bone came straight out of my leg,” Vickers said.
She also said she shattered every single bone in one of her feet and that she was lucky she didn’t lose that foot altogether.
Douglas had broken both ankles and his left tibia. He passed out from the pain and cold as the two lay in a pool of blood while Vickers shouted and banged the tube’s walls for help.
“It was like something out of a Saw movie,” Vickers said.
More than three hours later, the police arrived when a neighbor finally reported a disturbance.
Looking down the tube, police found the two in a mangled heap at the bottom of the slide.
The pair are now confined to wheelchairs and face close to two years of recovery before either will be able to walk.
Douglas says the incident has affected every aspect of his life. He was let go from his job, he’s staying with friends, and he’s running out of money. He’s depressed, and sleeping is difficult because of his leg brace.
Vickers says that it’s easy to break into the Lido.
“Everybody does it – I’ve been doing it since I was 20…”
She chalks the incident up to a simple but unfortunate mistake.
“Everybody has got drunk at some point in their life and made a silly choice. That’s what this was.”
Douglas blames poor security for their current circumstances.
“The chains were unlocked to walk up the steps. The bottom chain – that was unlocked. The top chain, unlocked. You go to the slide, and that was open….They should have had security there, for a start. The fence should have been secured. There will be legal action taken.”
Barry Douglas & Claire Vickers, Credit: HCA Barbieri News.
