DETROIT – It turned into a viral sensation for all of the wrong reasons, and now the Belle Isle Giant Slide that sent riders flying is the target of a lawsuit.
That lawsuit was filed on behalf of a mother and her two young children.
They claim a trip down the slide gave the kids concussions and chronic headaches.
The new lawsuit claims that the 40-foot giant slide injured multiple children and that it all could have been prevented.
“Everyone has known about the Belle Isle slide, but people haven’t thought about the effects that it’s had on the people that were injured,” said Lawyer Raquel Munoz.
Lawyers Munoz and Kara Weisman say the trouble that an 8-year-old girl and 10-year-old brother went through on the giant slide is still haunting the young siblings.
“Unfortunately, as a result of hitting their head on the side, they’ve suffered many different serious injuries such as a concussion,” said Wiseman. “And they’ve had issues with memory, sleeping. They’re unable to play sports like they were used to.”
One child had to be taken out of sports altogether. That’s why this past Monday (April 24), a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the mother and her two kids in Wayne County Circuit Court.
“The mother had informed us that both the children were very active or playing sports, basketball, and tennis, and they experienced headaches after they’re done practicing, shortness of breath a lot quicker than they were beforehand,” Munoz said.
If you recall, footage of riders flying off the giant slide went viral, followed by DNR shutting down the slide to make adjustments.
Weisman says that should have happened beforehand.
“There was definitely an obligation for the city to make sure that this was a safe slide and event for people to attend,” Weisman said.
The City of Detroit, DNR, and the manager of DNR are listed as the defendants in the lawsuit that’s seeking damages of at least $25,000.
“DNR has managed it for a while, but they’re not the owners of it,” Munoz said. “I think a few years ago, they had a contract with the City of Detroit that they would manage the park. So it’s still owned by the city of Detroit, and hence why we filed a lawsuit against them.”
DNR would not comment on the matter because of the pending litigation.
In the meantime, Local 4 was told the city’s law department would be seeking to remove the city from this lawsuit because it does not operate Belle Isle or the giant slide.
