A New York tourist who said he was paralyzed and nearly drowned at Universal Orlando Resort’s Volcano Bay has sued the theme park company. Universal described the man as experiencing “numbness” in a state-required injury report released this week.
James Bowen, 47, and his wife filed the lawsuit in Orange Circuit Court after he slammed his head in a shallow wading pool at Punga Racers water slide in July.
Numbness is “not an adequate disclosure by any stretch of the imagination,” said Bowen’s Miami attorney, David Buckner.
Universal declined to comment.
State Commissioner Nikki Fried, whose Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services releases the quarterly theme parks injury report, did not respond to requests for comment.
Universal, Disney and SeaWorld self-disclose health problems and injuries of their visitors under a law that allows them to avoid state ride inspections required of smaller attractions and carnivals. The theme parks only have to reveal incidents when a person was hurt or sick on a ride and needed hospitalization for at least 24 hours.
The reports don’t give details of incidents other than a person’s gender, age, the ride and if there was a pre-existing health condition that contributed.
The report reads, “Universal: 7/11/19 Punga Racers, 47 (man), numbness.”
Bowen was injured as his family’s summer vacation wound down. He ventured on one last water slide before they left Volcano Bay on July 11, according to the suit filed earlier this month that’s seeking more than $15,000 in damages.
Bowen lay on his stomach on a mat headfirst at Punga Racers, an attraction with four lanes. His three daughters were in the other lanes to compete against him.
As the ride ended and Bowen reached the wading pool, his face hit a wall of water and his head snapped back “violently,” the lawsuit said.
Bowen couldn’t move, the suit says. He floated limply, face down in a few feet of the water.
“A wave of panic swept over him,” the lawsuit said.
His 13-year-old daughter screamed. His wife, Lisa, who had been waiting at the bottom of the slide, ran over and tried to flip her husband over so he could get air.
“If not for the heroic actions of his middle daughter and his wife, Mr. Bowen would have drowned that day,” the lawsuit said.
Universal employees held Bowen up and called paramedics, according to the suit.
Within days, Universal added warnings and instituted a 150-pound weight limit on the Punga Racers water slide, Buckner said. The ride restriction is posted on Universal’s website.
Bowen weighed 215 pounds, the lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, Bowen was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center but before doctors could treat his spinal injury, they had to stabilize his irregular heartbeat.
“They performed a CAT scan revealing that when Mr. Bowen’s head was slammed back as he exited the water slide into the wading pool he had suffered a severe spinal cord compression along the C3 to C7 vertebrae,” the lawsuit said. “Because of that severe spinal cord compression, Mr. Bowen was almost completely paralyzed.”
He underwent surgery.
“Mr. Bowen’s surgeons removed part of his vertebrae along his C3 to C7 vertebrae and installed screws and rods resulting in a partial fusion of this section of his spinal column,” the lawsuit said. “When Mr. Bowen awoke, he was in a quadriplegic state.”
His family went home to Wappingers Falls, a village about two hours north of New York City, while Bowen recovered in Orlando, undergoing rehabilitation.
The feeling returned to his arms and legs. He gained strength. He left Orlando Aug. 8.
With steady physical therapy, Bowen has improved. He can walk a short distance or stand, using crutches, the lawsuit said.
But he hasn’t returned to his job where he was a director of worldwide services at Squarespace, a New York City-based software company. Buckner said.
“It’s going to be a struggle. I don’t think that’s ever going away,” Buckner said.
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