A teenager who claims to have had a near-death experience at Dreamworld six months ago has been left “really distressed” by the death of four adults at the popular theme park on Tuesday.
Visiting the Gold Coast park in April, 19-year-old Samson Sherrin says he was on the Rocky Hollow Log Ride when he fell into the water, knocked unconscious, ran over by two other boats and nearly drowned.
Sherrin’s legal team told news.com.au he suffered hip, rib and ankle fractures, neck, head and groin injuries, acute respiratory failure, and psychological trauma.
But the Brisbane teen's lawyer, Sugath Wijedoru, alleges Dreamworld's ride operators hardly responded, leaving a friend to rescue him.
“His friend had to finish the ride, run all the way around and get him out,” Wijedoru told news.com.au. “Staff didn’t get him out."
Wijedoru says the ride was temporarily closed after Sherrin's ordeal before it was cleared by Worksafe Queensland inspectors and reopened to the public just two days later.
Sherrin has since brought a public liability claim against the theme park, alleging negligence.
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