Boy injures head at Bedok indoor water park; HomeTeamNS refutes lack of warning claim by mum

It was not the adventure they had in mind.

A nine-year-old boy was injured after hitting his head at Aqua Adventure, an indoor water park at HomeTeamNS Bedok Reservoir, on May 21.

His mother, Stomp contributor G, shared photos of the wound and her son in an ambulance.

"He suffered a deep cut on his scalp, had to undergo surgery and be hospitalised," said the Stomp contributor.

"But they refused to reimburse our medical fees."

Sharing a photo of where her son hurt himself, the mother said: "He climbed on the ledge (red arrow) and hit his head against the metal beam (green arrow).

"There was no barrier to block off this dangerous area. No sign to say no climbing. And the staff also did not stop him from climbing."

In response to a Stomp query, a HomeTeamNS spokesperson disputed the Stomp contributor's claims.

"The safety and well-being of our guests are paramount, and we understand the concerns this incident has raised," said the spokesperson.

"The incident occurred at the Laze Pool, when the child hit his head against the metal bridge while attempting to jump into the water from a raised base supporting the bridge.

"Prior to the incident, our facility specialists had issued several verbal warnings to inform the child not to climb onto the raised base structure.

"Clear signages were also displayed onsite to notify visitors of the low headroom in the area."

The spokesperson added that announcements were also made every 30 minutes to remind visitors of the rules at the Laze Pool. The rules include: "Do not climb on any ledge/pillar that is in the pool" and "No horse-playing such as pushing or jumping is allowed".

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The Stomp contributor denied that they were warned against climbing onto the structure.

"My son did not attempt to climb it before," she said. "If he had attempted to climb it before, he would have hit his head. The ceiling is really low. No staff was there at all."

"If you see the photo, the 'low headroom' sign was far from the accident site. There is no sign at the ledge to say no climbing. A person would not have seen the 'low headroom' sign in the swimming pool. A person can see it only if he is standing outside the pool."

The Stomp contributor also pointed out that the indoor water park was noisy.

She said: "I could not hear any of the announcement made even when I paid 100 per cent attention when not in the pool. It was not possible to hear the announcements in the pool."

After the boy got hurt, the Aqua Adventure staff was alerted.

The HomeTeamNS spokesperson said: "Upon being alerted, our staff responded promptly by assessing the child's injury and administering first aid."

"Subsequently, we arranged for an ambulance to send him to the hospital for further evaluation."

The Stomp contributor said: "We asked them to call the ambulance and quickly took turns to change to dry clothes while tending to our son. After we were changed, the private ambulance company called me to inform me that I needed to make payment of $210 first before the ambulance can come.

"Aqua Adventure refused to pay this $210 while we were changing. They told the ambulance to call me. It was at least a 20-minute delay."

The ambulance arrived nearly an hour after accident, said the Stomp contributor, who shared a photo of the invoice from the private ambulance company, Emergencies First Aid & Rescue.

The spokesperson told Stomp that HomeTeamNS has conducted a thorough review of the incident.

In addition to reinforcing existing safety briefings and signages, it will install floating markers to clearly prohibit access under the bridge and implement a safety time-out protocol for instances where verbal warnings are disregarded.

The spokesperson said: "Following the incident, we had engaged the child's parents to offer our support and informed them that our insurer will be in touch with them in the first week of June.

"We hope for the child's full and speedy recovery."

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This article was first published in Stomp. Permission required for reproduction.