On Sunday, October 12, 2014, an inflatable bounce house in New Hampshire was lifted from the ground and flew some 40 feet across a farm before crashing down and injuring two toddlers who were inside. The two boys inside had climbed into the bounce house at Sullivan Farm in Nashua, NH.
According to the farm’s co-owner, Gary Bergeron, the bounce house had been inflated so that it could dry off and was not open at the time because it had not been securely fastened to the ground. However, the father of one of the injured boys claims that a farm volunteer led visitors to believe it was open.
There have been several incidents recently in which children were injured when bounce houses they were in went airborne. In May in upstate New York, two boys, ages 5 and 6, fell 15 feet to the ground after one of the bounce house’s anchors broke loose and the bounce house was swept away. One of the boys was put in a medically induced coma and spent more than a month in the hospital. A 2012 study in the Journal of Pediatrics found the number of children injured in bounce houses doubled between 2008 and 2010, when 11,300 were treated in hospital emergency rooms.
Given the propensity of these bounce houses to take flight, even with children inside, it is imperative that you ensure that the bounce house is properly and securely staked to the ground at the time any children are playing in or around the bounce house. From experience in representing injured victims arising out of bounce house injuries, I also recommend that you make sure that the company supplying the bounce house is properly insured for liability and injuries, and understands the importance of properly securing and staking the bounce house prior to any use.
If you or someone you know have been injured or killed due to the negligence or wrongdoing of another, contact an attorney at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or 713-222-7211.