Another Family Claims Water Park Accident

A family visiting from New York says they watched in horror the reports of another family injured in the "Black Thunder" ride at The Rapids Water Park in Riviera Beach Wednesday. That's because they say they ended up in the hospital as well on Tuesday after riding the slide next door called "Big Thunder".

"It felt like we were hitting stone, it didn't feel like we were coming down on water," said Harold Manners. He, his wife, and their 11 year old daughter Samantha were sliding down the Big Thunder when they say something went wrong. The ride has a dark tunnel and 2 steep drops. Manners says all three were on the same raft when they came out the chute at a high rate of speed, went airborne, and when they came down, they hit really hard almost falling off the raft.

His family was in major pain, but Samantha was the worst off. "She was not able to get off her raft. She was crying with back pain. So an ambulance came and took us to St. Mary's Medical Center," he said. Samantha ended up spending 6 hours at St. Mary's medical center after suffering a hematoma, a bruise caused by a collection of blood. Otherwise, she is stiff and so is the rest of the family.

Manners ended up filing a complaint with Florida's Bureau of Fair Rides Inspections. He claims his family was well under the 700 pound limit on the raft and says there was more water the first time he rode the ride, there wasn't the second time around. As off late Wednesday night, Rapids Water Park had not responded to our request for comment on the new case.