PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — A woman filed a lawsuit against Dollywood and companies associated with the park after saying she was injured while riding the Mountain Scream waterslide.
The waterslide is an enclosed length of tubes that weave and turn down a hill, with streams of water running through them. According to the lawsuit, the woman was told to keep her arms folded over her chest and her feet crossed over her ankles to safely ride the waterslide.
However, the lawsuit says that she was not told what to do if she was flipped onto her stomach. While going down the ride, she said she was flipped over and started struggling to breathe due to the stream of water coming down the tube.
The lawsuit said she tried to flip back onto her back and in the process, her right foot was caught on the tube's roof. She came to a stop inside the waterslide, and the lawsuit says water continued splashing against her head, making it hard to breathe.
After around a minute, she said she was able to get free and continue down the waterslide.
When she finally slid down the Mountain Scream, she said she felt a sharp pain in her right knee and on the right side of her pelvis area. She told a lifeguard and they called for an EMT, according to the lawsuit.
The EMT told her that she likely had a strained ligament and she sat in a lounge chair near a splash pool for up to 45 minutes, waiting for the pain to go away. Eventually, she asked for a wheelchair and was taken to the Dollywood entrance where her husband lifted her into their car.
The lawsuit claims that Dollywood did not adequately warn the woman about the dangers of riding the Mountain Scream and did not adequately show her how to safely ride it.
The couple is asking for the park to pay $300,000 in compensation to the wife and $75,000 to the husband to help pay for medical expenses, lost earnings, and a "loss of future earning capacity." They are also asking for an additional payment of $500,000 for both of them — a total of $875,000 in damages.
Dollywood said that they do not comment on pending litigation.
