A dad took to social media his frustration at Raging Rivers Waterpark in Grafton, Illinois, after the resort allegedly publicly humiliated a 13-year-old girl because of her weight.
Per Andrew Batton, his daughter was excited to ride the park's newest waterslide, the "Mississippi Monster," and was with a friend when she climbed the stair at the start of the attraction. The dad said that when the young teen arrived at the top, a worker gave her a weighing scale, asking her to weigh herself, despite the numerous strangers around her, Today says.
The ride had a weight limit of 200 pounds, and after weighing, the worker told her that she exceeded five pounds and was not allowed to get on the ride.
Her daughter said it was worse to have endured the public humiliation of being asked to step on the scale in front of everyone and told that you are overweight.
Batton explained that tears wound up in his daughter's eyes. As parents, they now had to undo the emotional damage Raging Rivers caused them.
No warning or signage
The employee working the new water slide was "extremely upset" and explained that the scene had been playing out the entire day and many people had been upset/ surprised by the reaction.
According to the Telegraph, a Raging Rivers employee on Tuesday said the park initially had a 300-pound weight for the new attraction, based on the slide's manufacturer. However, the water slide manual given to the employees had a weight limit of 200 pounds. The employee claimed several signs about the weight limit, but the father disagreed.
There was no warning or signage to warn swimmers about the weight limit posted at the bottom of the hill or at the ride's opening to spare the people from being subjected to public humiliation at the top of the slide. Batton added that despite the roll-out delays and announcements leading to the opening, there was never any mention of a weight limit.
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Looking out for the safety
The spokesperson for Ragin Rivers, Jimmy Holmes, the rest's goal is not to embarrass anyone but to look at their customer's safety while visiting Ragin Rivers. The company takes many precautions to ensure the guest's safety while experiencing the slides and other attractions. He added that the resort imposed the reduced weight limit for "guest safety" and that new parts are expected to arrive on Wednesday to increase the weight capacity of the ride, KATV reports.
The father is not asking for anything from the company except for an apology to his daughter. He shared that resort has been her daughter's source of joy since childhood. The incident saddened him because of its negative impact on her daughter.
He said the incident was mentally damaging to her young teener and hoped other kids would not experience the same humiliation.
