'I screamed in agony': The shocking injuries sustained at trampoline parks

Data obtained by ITV News has revealed the shocking number of people being injured at trampoline parks, as ITV News North of England reporter Amy Welch reports

A woman who broke her back at a trampoline park in Chester is calling for better safety regulations as exclusive ITV News figures reveal ambulances were called to reports of injuries more than 400 times last year.

Louise Wright was celebrating a friend's birthday at Flip Out Chester in 2017 when she broke her back.

CCTV footage shows the moment Louise jumped 13 feet from the park’s star attraction, the tower jump. She was meant to land in foam but says the surface she landed on was hard and that she immediately felt a sharp shooting pain up her back.

"I got this really sharp pain and it started from the bottom of my back and it travelled all the way up to my neck," Louise told ITV News.

"I didn't land on any foam at all."

Figures obtained by ITV News found that more than 1,000 ambulance call-outs were made to trampoline parks in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the last three years.

Last year alone there were 423 call-outs, an average of one a day - and these don't account for people who have made their own way to hospital, so the true number of accidents could be much higher.

The moment Louise Wright jumped from Flip Out's tower jump, breaking her back

Louise was taken to the Countess of Chester hospital via ambulance and says staff told her they were repeatedly getting call outs to Flip Out Chester.

At least 270 accidents were recorded at the Chester park in just seven weeks between December 2016 and February 2017.

The park's owners David Elliot Shuttleworth, 34, and Matthew Melling, 33 were prosecuted for health and safety breaches earlier this year. They were handed a fine and community service order for the "cavalier" approach they had to safety.

Flipout Chester is now under new ownership and has removed the tower jump, but Jodie Wright was injured at Flipout Preston park only last year.

She says she signed a waiver and followed all the safety guidance she was given.

'I didn't expect to come away with a broken bone,' says Jodie Wright

She told ITV News: "As far as I was concerned, I followed the instructions on the video, which was to jump into the pit with both feet. And I didn't expect to hit something. And I certainly didn't expect to come away with a broken bone."

But when she jumped off a plastic stepping stone into a foam pit below she was left "screaming in agony" after severely injuring her left ankle and leg.

She later had to have metalwork and screws inserted in her leg to put it back together.

Now she is taking legal action against the park for negligence and is warning others about the dangers posed by trampoline parks.

Flip Out told ITV News that the incidents at its park in Chester occurred when the park was under different ownership.

It is now owned and operated by the Flip Out Group, so while the brand name remains the same, Flip Out Chester has been under new ownership since 2019.

In a statement Flip Out said: "The tower jump was removed immediately after the incidents in 2017 and has not operated at any other parks since."

It added: "Flip Out Preston is a franchisee owned location. This was an isolated incident that was reviewed and investigated thoroughly."

The company says it has detailed advice and guidance on how to use its parks safely, including safety briefing videos and safety signage, and a robust reporting process to investigate any incident.

“Flip Out puts the safety of our customers at the heart of what we do, and it is our number one priority," it said.

"We are constantly reviewing our procedures, ensuring the equipment is as safe as possible."

Lilly Pearce was injured at Supajump in Cardiff in 2018 and now has one leg that’s 3cm shorter than the other.

The injury caused Lilly's leg to grow at an angle and she needed metal plates to straighten it out.

Lilly Pearce said she remembers her family running over to her at the trampoline park

"I can't remember how the pain felt, but I do remember screaming at the top of my lungs," she said.

Lilly’s mum Amy Kirkpatrick says she was shocked when she found out that trampoline parks aren’t licensed and don’t have to abide by any specific safety regulations.

"I feel like it robbed her of, like, some of her childhood, she was in a cast for eight weeks, and then in a wheelchair for weeks after that," she said.

"She's missed a lot of school in this whole time as well because of different surgeries and recovery and it was just avoidable. That's what makes you angry. This shouldn't have happened."

Lilly’s legal case is still ongoing but safety lapses which landed six other children in hospital between 2017 and 2019 led to Supajump’s owner Philip Booth being prosecuted in June 2023.

He was sentenced to ten months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

In a statement Supajump told ITV News that health and safety improvements were implemented with immediate effect after the accidents, and a national health and safety company has been overseeing its risk assessments and first aid training.

"I am deeply sorry for the accidents that occurred back then and safety is our top priority," the statement continued.

"However the improvements that we have undertaken since then have made our park one of the safest you can visit now."

Express Solicitors, a law firm in Greater Manchester, says it has dealt with more than 100 cases in the past five years, and that watching a safety video and signing a waiver does not remove an individual’s right to make a claim if they get injured.

"It's technically not legally binding and they cannot exclude liability for personal injury or death if it’s a result of negligence," said Principal Partner Jonathan Flattery.

Jonathan Flattery, Principal Partner, Express Solicitors spoke about what signing a waiver means

What are the safety laws around trampoline parks?

Trampoline parks are governed by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 but they aren’t licensed and there are no safety regulations specifically aimed at trampoline parks.

The British Standards Institute published a new voluntary safety standard in 2022 which aimed to raise safety standards.

Peter Brown is chairman of the Leisure Equipment and Asset Protection Scheme and was involved in its creation.

He believes the number of injuries has significantly fallen since the standard was introduced, but admits that of an estimated 120 trampoline parks in the UK only a handful are known to be complying with it.

"We have a duty of care, under the Health and Safety at Work Act, and we are not in a position as an industry to have that law changed," he said.

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The Health and Safety Executive say it’s the role of local authorities to inspect trampoline parks, however there’s no legal requirement for them to carry out an inspection until after accidents have been reported to them and they rarely have the money or resources to carry out regular safety checks.

Councillor Heather Kidd, chairwoman of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board said councils prioritise proactive health and safety inspections on the basis of Health and Safety Executive guidance.

And while there’s growing pressure for trampoline parks to prove they meet certain standards in order to get insurance, without statutory legislation and severe punishment for those that don’t comply, critics will continue to question just how safe they really are.

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