A young girl was allegedly poisoned by chlorine gas after a $86 trip to Water world and now her family is demanding a refund.
Annabelle, 5, and her parents Ashley and Jessica Carwood traveled to the Aqua Park for an early birthday present for the little girl but the trip soon descended into disaster.
The family said they suffered sore eyes and chesty coughs within 15 minutes of getting into the water. As the family complained, other families at the Aqua Park also complained about similar issues thought to be caused by the chlorine levels.
They said the lifeguard’s eyes looked as if they were streaming as they went into first aid kits to wash out their eyes, and little Annabelle was coughing so hard that her chest hurt, leaving her disappointed and wanting to go home early.
The dad claims they said there was too much chlorine in the water because of an issue with a pump and doctors at A&E later told him that there was chlorine gas poisoning, but the water world in Stoke has hit back, arguing that there were no health and safety breaches.
The family had arrived at the Festival Park attraction at 10:00 am and got into the water at 10:30 am. Ashley said: “Our eyes were stinging really badly and there were quite a few people coughing. We looked at the lifeguards and their eyes looked like they were streaming”
He explained: “They were going in the first aid box and getting the eyewash out to wash their eyes. I spoke to one of them and asked what was happening. They said something had happened with one of the pumps and there was too much chlorine in the water. Your eyes always sting when you go to a swimming pool but this was quite extreme.”
“You were constantly rubbing your eyes. We had to go and wash them out with water. It was mainly my daughter we were worried about. We were advised to go out of the pool for half an hour, wash our eyes out, and try not to go under the water. We tried to carry on but it was getting quite bad,” he added.
He said: “Our daughter started coughing a lot and she said her chest was hurting. She went and sat on the side; I got her a drink of water.
I spoke to a member of staff at around 12:00 pm and they said we had been in here for a few hours so they couldn’t do anything about it in terms of a refund. He said they could offer us some mini-golf tickets or change our pass so we could stay all day”.
The couple later called NHS 111 and Annabelle was advised to go to A&E. Ashley said: “My wife was in there for about three and a half hours which was longer than you got in the pool, they said she was not in any danger but they confirmed it was chlorine gas poisoning.”
The angry dad told Nottinghamshire Live: “We have been there a few times before but this has never happened. We will never ever go there again.”
Ashley claimed: “The main thing I wanted was my money back, it’s not cheap. It cost around $80 to go there. $5 for parking and $4.67 then $3.34 for a locker. It takes about 55 minutes for us to get there. I said we don’t fancy coming back, it’s not a two-minute drive for us. I’ve emailed the website to ask how I can make a formal complaint.”
Water World has been operating for 32 years and welcomed more than 13 million visitors. It had 2,000 customers on Sunday. The company has declined to comment on the family’s specific issues and complaints.
The water world spokesman said: “All pool tests and operational plant room procedures were followed and adhered to fully, as is the norm. There were no breaches in any health and safety protocols.”
“As a business, we ensure our customers are dealt with in a fair manner. We do our best to make sure all customers leave with a smile. We believe the manager on duty did all he could to address the situation and offer a remedy,” they added.
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