A young mom of two has filed a lawsuit against the Urban Air adventure park in Bloomingdale, Illinois after video captured her harness coming loose while she was in the middle of a zip line ride, choking her as she was suspended in the air.
Evelyn Rapier said her time at the suburban adventure park started out fun last November as her family celebrated her 3-year-old's birthday party there. Things took a turn for the worse, though, when Rapier decided to try out the park's famous Sky Rider zip line ride, according to NBC Chicago.
Rapier recalled the incident, saying "It was strapped up here, which I had no idea, and ended up choking me. In the video you can see me grabbing the rope and pulling on it and I knew that wasn't working."
Rapier thought she was going to die
Rapier said she feared for her life at the time, but ultimately managed to hold herself up with the help of her hand to keep her from choking. Rapier said that as she swung through the air with the harness choking her, she thought she was going to die, according to Fox 32 Chicago.
Rapier added that all she could think of was her family, friends and especially her young children watching this. She thanked God she was able to find the strength to pull the harness away from her neck and survive.
Rapier may have survived that incident but according to her, a lot of people, especially children would not have been able to do what she did to survive. Rapier filed a lawsuit as she wanted to let people know this ride is dangerous and that the adventure park and its employees are careless and do not make safety a priority.
Rapier alleges negligence by Urban Air adventure park in her lawsuit
According to Rapier's suit, she left the incident with a bruised neck, which alleges negligence by Urban Air adventure park. Rapier's attorney Marc McCallister issued a statement about the lawsuit, saying "I think we want to make sure that people are aware of the risks, but also the owners and operators of these facilities are making sure that people working there are trained and they also appreciate the risks that their customers faced."
Urban Air released a statement of its own, saying that the safety and well-being of their guests and employees is the company's highest priority in everything they do. The park said that one injury is one too many, but what is important to remember is ride safety is a shared partnership between the park and their guests and it is essential they follow posted and verbal guidelines and instructions.
The park added in the statement that out of an abundance of caution, all of their staff members were retrained after the event on November 19, 2021. Rapier, who is represented by Cavanagh Law Group, filed a two-count lawsuit in the Circuit Court of DuPage County against Urban Air Adventure Park Bloomingdale and two of its employees who were operating the Sky Ride Zip Line at the time of her ride. The suit seeks unspecificed damages, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
