A popular slip'n'slide near the Wiltshire-Somerset border is currently being investigated after a boy was seriously injured by an "unguarded suction pump."
The Ultimate Slip'n'Slide in Beckington, near Frome, opened in May 2024 and has already seen hundreds of Wiltshire and Somerset locals flock to try it out - including Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey.
But on Sunday, June 16, a child visiting the attraction was airlifted to hospital with severe bruising after his leg was reportedly sucked into an "unguarded water suction pump" at the venue.
A post shared to Facebook by the boy's mother read: "A massive thank you to all those that helped us at the slip’n’slide with the incident involving our son and the unguarded water pump on Sunday.
“We were so lucky he was able to keep his head above the water and shout for help and his foot wasn’t sucked into the mechanics.
“We are incredibly grateful for the Dr who was already visiting the attraction and gave us her full support until the air ambulance arrived – which again, we are so thankful it arrived so quickly and gave him the best care.”
She added: “Although the staff decided not to close the attraction or pause the rides during the incident they did put a beer crate and a sandbag over the exposed opening of the pipe to prevent any other children getting trapped/sucked into the pipe.”
Leader of Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey was recently caught trying out the new slip'n'slide (Image: PA/Rod Minchin)
A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust said: “We were called at 12:03hrs on Sunday 16 June to an incident near Frome. We sent an air ambulance to the scene of the incident and conveyed one patient by air ambulance to Royal United Hospitals Bath."
The mother has now shared that her son is out of hospital and believes it "could have been a fatality".
Somerset Council is currently investigating the attraction after being made aware of the incident on social media.
The attraction remains open during the weekends and says it will open daily during the Summer holidays, as Wiltshire residents continue to flock to the slip'n'slide.
A spokesman for the company stated that visitors' safety "is apparent" and the company has attempted to reach out to the boy's family.
Ultimate Slip'n'slide has been approached by the Wiltshire Times for further comment.
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