Dolly Parton’s Dollywood Sued By Woman Claiming Ride Wrecked Her Spine

A family vacation is supposed to be full of incredible memories that you’ll remember forever, but it’s supposed to be for a good reason. For one family of four who visited Dolly Parton’s Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, it was anything but, and now there is a lawsuit that has been filed, reports TMZ.

The wife and mother of two girls claims that one of the rides hurt her back so much, she ended up with a compression fracture (which is when a bone collapses), as well as other spinal injuries. It happened on the RiverRush Water Coaster at Dollywood Splash Country last summer.

“The couple claims they followed the instructions of the theme park staff while getting on the water ride but, as their raft got to the top of its incline, something went wrong. According to the docs, the wife was ‘propelled off the seat and she then fell down into the raft striking her spine on the hard surface,'” reports TMZ. It goes on to say that the woman, “heard a pop, felt a burning sensation, and could not feel or move her legs at the end of the ride.” The couple is suing the fun park for $2 million for what they claim was negligence and a failure to properly warn visitors at the park of the dangers of the ride.

This isn’t the first time the theme park has been sued.

“Tedi A. Brown of Ponte Vedra Beach suffered permanent impairments and disabilities after she plunged from the Waltzing Swinger ride while on vacation with her husband and five of their children in late December 2013,” according to the Los Angeles Times. This couple was only seeking $475,000 over the alleged accident. The Florida couple asked a Dollywood employee if the Waltzing Swinger was safe to ride in the wintry conditions, the suit said. The family was told not to worry. The suit stated that Brown “slid from her seat and fell headfirst onto the pavement. She also suffered spine and neck injuries, torn ligaments and a broken jaw.”

Dollywood has responded to the lawsuit claiming that Ms. Brown thought the ride was over when it wasn’t and so she jumped from the ride prematurely rather than fell from it. They said that Brown lifted her safety bar before the ride had completed, and asked to have the negligence suit dismissed, according to the Daily Mail.