
Emma Mist's daughter Myla was climbing an inflatable when the material ripped beneath her feet, and she slipped beneath the lining.
It was supposed to be a fun playdate, but one mum said her visit to TopJump inflatable park turned to terror last week when her five-year-old daughter was almost 'swallowed whole' by a piece of equipment.
“I was screaming for help, but the noise from the inflatables drowned everything out,” Emma said, “There was no staff in sight. No emergency button. No eyes on the equipment.
“I somehow managed to keep hold of her hand with one arm while climbing and eventually pushed her up using my knee as a step. If she’d fallen any further under the lining, she wouldn’t have made it out.
“This isn’t just poor maintenance, it’s a fatal accident waiting to happen. No other child should have to go through what mine did, it was the most traumatic thing that’s ever happened to me.”
In a statement a TopJump representative said the climbing steps were closed immediately following the incident.
The company, which is based in Northfield Drive, said that necessary repairs were made before opening the park on Saturday morning to the steps' slide protective cover.
“TopJump places the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers and staff. The steps slide cover is a covering of the inflatable. We would like to confirm at no point was there a risk of the child falling into the inflatable itself and no child was injured.
“If the child had slid down without the parent standing underneath, they would have come out of the other end of the slide cover, not inside of the inflatable at any point. Air escapes out of the inflatables through the seams, at no point would there be risk of suffocation.
"We have spoken to an independent expert in relation to the slide cover, and the way they operate. We can confirm these are used as an additional safety feature and are not an essential part of the slide function. He has also confirmed that there is no risk of death or suffocation.”
The spokesman added that all TopJump inflatable staff have undergone recent training in accident and emergency procedures.
“As with any occurrence of this nature, we’ve proactively contacted the local council and notified the appropriate authorities, in full accordance with our standard reporting procedures.
“TopJump remains committed to operating a safe, well-managed environment for all visitors. We take every incident seriously and we will continue to review our processes to uphold the highest possible safety standards," they said.
"We would like to offer our sincere apologies for how this has affected the customers involved.
"We can understand how terrifying this situation must have felt for them and their child."