A Saskatoon mother is sharing her concerns after a power outage nearly left her son trapped in a deflated bouncy ride.
Dionne Miazdyck says her three-year-old son was playing at Crickle Creek amusement park southwest of Saskatoon when a power outage caused the park’s inflatable structures to deflate. Only one staff member was on site, and Miazdyck became worried her son would become trapped.
“I was screaming for him to get out, screaming for him to come to me,” Miazdyck said.
The consequences could have been deadly, according to the mother.
“If he’d been on a plastic ladder, which is sort of inside a tube, I don’t know how he would’ve gotten out of that.”
The park’s owner, David Wigelsworth, says he refunded Miazdyck immediately.
“If she’s left with the impression that I didn’t really care, I really apologize to her, because that really wasn’t the case,” he said.
The park has been affected by four power outages in the eight years Wigelsworth has owned it, and he says every inflatable ride is inspected annually. He plans to install a backup generator next year to support the park’s expansion, but claims a generator would not have done much good after the outage because of the time required to restart inflation.
Still, he says, he takes the park’s safety seriously.
“This is our business and our livelihood. How could we not take safety seriously?” Wigelsworth said.
Miazdyck has since filed a complaint with Saskatchewan’s Technical Safety Authority.
The province says all Crickle Creek rides passed inspection back in April and that a backup generator is not required, but notes the park should’ve had one staff member per ride.
Inspectors will be visiting the site by the end of the week.
