A woman claims that she was seriously injured on a waterslide at Florida’s Disney World theme park and suffered a painful “wedgie” as her swimsuit bunched up around her.
In a lawsuit filed on Sept. 27, the woman claims to have suffered lacerations and internal organ damage from her use of the Humunga Kowabunga water slide at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, NBC News reported.
The filing claims the accident occurred in 2019 and the woman is seeking more than $50,000.
“The slide caused [her one-piece swimsuit] to be painfully forced between her legs and for water to be violently forced inside her,” the lawsuit says. “She experienced immediate and severe pain internally and, as she stood up, blood began rushing from between her legs.”
“Specifically, when a rider of The Slide reached the bottom of the ride and traveled into the pool of water designed to stop further travel, the force of the water can push loose garments into a person’s anatomy – an event known as a ‘wedgie,'” the suit explains. “Because of a woman’s anatomy, the risk of a painful ‘wedgie’ is more common and more serious than it is for a man.”
The woman, Emma McGuinness, who was 30 at the time, was taken to the hospital immediately after exiting the ride, the suit adds.
She was also moved to an additional hospital to undergo procedure to treat her gynecologic injuries.
The filing says the women “suffered severe and permanent bodily injury including severe vaginal lacerations, a full thickness laceration causing Plaintiff’s bowel to protrude through her abdominal wall, and damage to her internal organs.”
The lawsuit alleges that Disney “was negligent and breached its duties of reasonable care” in failing to provide protective clothing, such as shorts, for the slide; failing to warn McGuinness and other women of the risks; and other design and safety failures.”
The Humunga Kowabunga water slide is the park’s fastest water slide and sends swimmers down at almost 40 mph, Disney’s website says of the attraction.
Disney also describes the slide as a “near-vertical, 5-story drop — in the dark,” and notes that it descends 214 feet and plunges riders into a pool of water at the end.
Disney attendants warn riders to cross their legs at the ankles before launching down the slide. But the woman said that at one point she was going so fast she became airborne and that caused her to lose her ankle cross.
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