Woman’s Injuries Result in Large Settlement from Oceans of Fun

A jury awarded a St. Joe woman more than $400,000 after she lost six teeth and required multiple surgeries after. Jessica Chavez was 12-years-old when she was involved in an accident at Oceans of Fun. She is now 24-years-old.

Chavez says she has a true phobia after all of her surgeries and says the same thing can still happen to someone else. She and her attorney say the amusement park has done nothing substantial to make Hurricane Falls a safer ride. Hand straps are the only thing that keeps people in the raft safe.

“Once the ride stopped I put my hands up to my mouth and when I brought them away, my toot was in my hand and there was blood everywhere,” Chavez said.

When Chavez was 12-years-old, her 11-year-old cousin lost her grip on the wet ride and went flying head first into Jessica’s face. Chavez lost six teeth.

She had many surgeries and three root canals. Chavez’s attorney says it could’ve been avoided.

“You wear helmets for bicycling, you wear helmets for roller skating, everything else now, helmets for water sports have been around since the 60′s, it’s not like it’s new science,” said attorney Bill McIntosh.

Defense attorney Bill McIntosh says it’s not the speed or the high twisting walls that makes Hurricane Fall dangerous. It’s the body to body contact that he says happens when someone fails to hold onto the straps at all times.

“It’s body to body, you’re depending on whether they’re eight-years-old or 80-years-old,” McIntosh said. “Whether they’ve got arthritis or not, you’re depending on two human hands as the only safety device and that’s what their expert said.”

Chavez and her attorney say Oceans of Fun could add helmets or inflatable dividers between riders and in the raft’s center for bracing your legs. Twelve years later she and her attorney say the only change is capping the number of riders at four instead of six.

“It’s horrifying, I can’t imagine you know all the people they just see the signs, hold onto the straps and they think their kids are going to be okay,” Chavez said.

Oceans of Fun issued this statement: ” We are currently reviewing the case, and because of that, we are unable to provide further comment at this time.”

McIntosh says Oceans of Fun offered them $5,000 to settle. Instead the jury awarded $225,000 but because the case took years to reach a jury, the interest payments brought the total award to $422,000.