Woman seriously injured on water ride at Virginia amusement park
DOSWELL, Va. (WRIC) – A fun Fourth of July at a water park ended in an ugly way for one Virginia couple.
Steve Orebaugh says his wife, Christina, was seriously hurt after something went wrong on the Tornado water slide at Kings Dominion.
The ride was closed while park officials tried to figure out what happened.
Orebaugh posted details about the ordeal on Facebook. It received thousands of comments and shares.
He explained that as the couple’s tube was riding up the side of the 65-foot funnel, it abruptly flipped.
“It threw her up in the air and she came down on her head and shoulder,” family friend Tim Biller said.
Christina Orebaugh is hospitalized at VCU Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, with a broken shoulder, collarbone and foot. She also has a concussion and multiple staples in her head to help heal a nasty gash.
The couple is even more upset about what happened after the accident.
According to Steve Orebaugh, lifeguards didn’t seem to be paying attention, so he was forced to swim to his unconscious wife and hold her head above water so she wouldn’t drown.
“He said, ‘I don’t feel like there was a quick response at all. I had to save my wife’s life,’” the family friend added.
A spokesperson for King’s Dominion released the following statement:
On Tuesday, July 4, around 2:00 p.m., we received a report of a guest injury on the Tornado, a ride in the Soak City water park. Lifeguards who were at their posted positions in the water at the ride, as well as park medical staff, immediately responded. The guest was transported to the hospital. The safety of our guests and staff is always our number one priority and the ride remains closed at this time while park officials conduct an investigation.”
The Tornado has been a fixture at King’s Dominion since 2007.