New Straits Times | Thu, Nov 29 2012
KANGAR: WHAT was supposed to be a fun-filled trip to Malacca for a group of students, here, turned into a nightmare for a 14-year-old who was involved in a freak accident at a theme park when he fell off a water slide.
The incident left Muhammad Aiman Afzal Suhaizam, a Form Two student of SMK Putra, here, with 10 stitches below the chin and more than 20 stitches on his head following a surgery to remove blood clots.
He also fractured his skull and suffered bruises on the hand and legs after falling four metres.
Relating the ordeal yesterday, Aiman, the eldest of two siblings, said he had joined a group of 80 students and teachers on a four-day trip, organised by the state Education Department in conjunction with the school holidays, to Malacca last week.
He said they went to the theme park at 11am on Nov 20, a day after they had arrived Malacca.
"We were enjoying ourselves at the park under the supervision of teachers and a few my friends and I went to the water slide to try it.
"It needs two persons to be seated in a tube and a park employee will spin the tube and push us down the slide," said Aiman, who is still traumatised by the incident.
"Some of my friends, who earlier tried the slide, did not have their tube spun before they were pushed down the slide. So, I, too, opted to not have my tube spun as I was nervous and told the staff.
"But he ignored my request and I fell off the slide," said Aiman at his house at Taman Bunga Raya yesterday.
His mother Sharina Wahab, 39, a legal clerk, said she received a phone call from a teacher after the incident.
"He was first treated at the clinic at the theme park before being referred to Malacca Hospital.
"From there, he was transferred to Kuala Lumpur Hospital Neurology Department."
She said a police report was lodged on Nov 22.
Sharina and her husband Suhaizam Sukandan, 38, plan to sue the management of the theme park for negligence.
"This is a serious head injury. There could be long-term complications and my son is only 14. He has a long way to go and God forbid, if anything happens to him, then what are we to do?"
She said the management of the theme park had called to ask about Aiman's condition and requested her to submit a copy of the medical report.
The spokesman for the theme park, when contacted, said they were aware of the incident and asked the family to hand in the medical report for further action.
