A highly-anticipated water park opening in Dublin Saturday took a frightening turn when a boy was flung from the bottom of a three-story slide before skidding across the concrete.
The 10-year-old boy managed to walk away with only some scratches after being ejected from the Emerald Plunge ride at The Wave, which is the East Bay's newest water park. The boy was not transported to a hospital.
"We got him into first aid and they checked him out," John Rodems, Dublin Director of Parks and Community Services, said. "He was in good spirits. He was smiling. I think he was a little stunned coming out of the transition area a little bit."
Video captured by the Bay Area News Group shows the boy accelerating down the open slide. As he reaches the flat section of the slide, his body glides across the the slide's side wall before skimming across the concrete surface below.
"I thought he was dead at first," Omarea Grigsby said. "He hit the ground pretty hard. You hear like a (pop)."
Park officials closed the slide involved and one right next to it following the incident. The slide in question could remain closed for a few days while officials investigate how the boy slipped out of it and formulate a plan to prevent such an incident from happening again.
"You know, it's safety first, everything that we do," Rodems said. "We've been testing that slide for a matter of a couple of weeks. Those slides were certified yesterday by the state of California."
The 31,000-square-foot, $43 million facility features multiple pools, a 48-foot tall water slide tower with a total of six water slides, a splash area for youngsters and more accommodations for guests wishing to relax outside of the water.
Construction for the facility began in March 2015 at a time when California was suffering through a historic drought. Despite some grumblings about water use, park officials assured residents that the city was being "extremely water conscious" with the project.
Photo Credit: NBC Bay Area
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