A primary school teacher is suing outdoor adventure company Go Ape for £60,000 after shattering her leg on a slide in a playground area 'aimed at children'. Rosemary Mountain, 50, suffered a 'severe' fracture coming down a 10 to 12-metre long 'Big Bounce' netted fabric tube slide at Go Ape's Black Park adventure site near Slough in February 2019.
Her trainer became caught, leaving her leg broken in three places, 'floppy' and 'bent in half at 45 degrees' after the accident in the site's Nets Kingdom area. Mrs Mountain, who teaches year one and two children, is now suing Adventure Forest Ltd, trading as Go Ape, claiming the slide was 'too dangerous' and 'not reasonably safe for operation'.
Central London County Court heard the area containing the slide was designed for three to 12-year-olds. But Go Ape deny all blame and insist there was nothing unsafe about the Nets Kingdom, which was 'installed by industry specialists' and regularly inspected. Lawyers for the company also say that Mrs Mountain signed a disclaimer accepting that she was at risk of injury before entering the area.
The court heard that Mrs Mountain was on a half-term visit with her husband and young children when the accident happened. She told Judge Luke Ashby that they decided to leave using the slide as the most convenient exit, with her husband and children going first. 'I went down with my legs together. It was very fast and the first part is just a freefall. My foot just got snagged in some sort of material at the side of the slide and dragged behind me,' she said.
Mrs Mountain described how her leg 'broke horribly', adding: 'My foot and leg were dragged underneath me as I fell and I knew I had badly broken my leg because I could feel intense pain and see that half of my shin was bent at about 45 degrees.' After the break, she had to be cut out of the netting at the bottom of the slide before being taken to hospital. She told the court she had previously been an 'outdoorsy adventurous person', but now remains plagued by chronic pain and is unlikely to return to running.
David White, barrister for Go Ape, said Mrs Mountain had signed a disclaimer before entering the course. Mrs Mountain replied: 'We signed to say there's a risk of bumps and scrapes, but not this sort of injury. It says on the description that it's suitable for three-year-olds, so I didn't expect to break my leg in the way that I did.' Dave Daborn, co-owner of Go Ape and site manager at the time, confirmed that 'this was an area which was aimed at children', but added that older children and adults were welcome. The case continues.
