'I thought I was going to die': Edmonton teen injures spine at trampoline park

Teen in hospital after incident jump park A Sherwood Park teenager was in hospital Tuesday, after an incident at a Sherwood Park jump park left him injured.

An Edmonton teen severely injured his spine over the weekend, after jumping into a foam pit at a trampolining facility.

Landon Smith was at a friend’s birthday party at Jump Park in Edmonton, when he somersaulted off of one of the trampolines into a foam pit and didn’t immediately resurface.

“He was covered in sweat and the first thing he said to me was, ‘Cassidy I thought I was going to die. I didn’t know if you’d make it down here fast enough,’” Cassidy Proctor, a friend of Smith’s, told CTV Edmonton.

According to Proctor, the 18-year-old told her that, when he jumped into the foam pit, he hit what felt like a concrete floor. Smith was rushed to hospital where he underwent surgery to treat his broken neck and spinal cord damage.

“He’s doing as good as I think anybody could do in the situation that he’s in,” said Jordan Smith, Landon Smith’s brother. “He’s got his halo apparatus off which I think is a big thing for him and they just have him in the neck brace now.”

According to research from Alberta Health Services, injuries are not uncommon. From 2013 to 2015, they saw a 30 per cent increase in injuries from trampolines. On average, four children in Alberta end up in the emergency room every day from trampolining.

A statement posted to the Jump Park Facebook page acknowledged the incident and said that trained professionals completed a thorough inspection of the foam pit and its trampoline – which keeps the foam suspended over the ground – and were advised that there are no defects with the equipment.

“The foam pit at Jump Park is standard with 3.5 feet of foam blocks resting above an extra precautionary trampoline above the facility floor,” read the statement.

A former employee of Jump Park, who wished to remain anonymous, told CTV News that she reported her safety concerns to the manager months ago.

“I jumped into the foam pit and you’d notice that near the middle the trampoline sunk a little more,” said the employee. “If you bounced on it you could touch the bottom of it.”

According to Strathcona County, they are responsible for regulating and checking whether businesses in the city are up to code.

With a report from CTV Edmonton's Shanelle Kaul