The family of a teenage girl injured while getting off the chair lift at Jamberoo Action Park in 2011 are suing the company that runs the popular tourist attraction.
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Mariah Foley and her family were spending the day at the park on January 2, 2011 when the then-13-year-old boarded the chairlift in order to ride it up to the top station so she could toboggan down.
However, the teen claims she was given no instructions other than how to sit on the chair and was not informed there was a second platform half-way up the lift that was used only for emergency purposes.
Upon seeing the mid-way platform, Mariah said she believed she was at the top and lifted the bar on the chair once it was over the middle of the platform in order to get off.
She said she stepped down onto the platform, at which time her foot caught on something and she stumbled forward.
She next remembers waking up on a grassed area some distance below the platform. She said she felt winded, weak and sick and was passing in and out of consciousness.
Documents lodged in the NSW Supreme Court said Mariah suffered a compressed fracture to one of her vertebrae and psychological problems as a result of the incident.
The family is suing park operator Propix Pty Ltd for negligence, claiming there were not enough appropriate safety measures in place to prevent the incident from occurring.
Among the claims is a suggestion by the family that the park failed to give proper instructions to Mariah about how to use the chairlift and that fact that there was a half-way platform.
During recent court proceedings, lawyers for the family sought to have Propix hand over incident reports pertaining to any other prior incidents involving the chair lift between 2006 and 20011, as well as documents about signage at the site and any work, alterations or modifications carried out during the same time period.
Justice Davies partially granted the application, ordering the required documents to be served on the family’s legal team within 14 days.