They broke in, used a slide and got hurt. Now, they say the ride operator should pay.
Two women, who broke in, rode a Broadway at the Beach amusement slide and injured themselves, say the operators should now pay for not properly securing the site.
Ally Mulcahy and Jillian McGovern filed the suit this week in Horry County Circuit Court. Their lawyer did not respond in time for this report.
BN Performance rides, the maker of the slide, is one defendant. Power Great American Midways, owner and operator of the “pipeline slide,” is another defendant. Broadway at the Beach and its owner Burroughs & Chapin also are named. Pavilion Nostalgia Park, which operates the amusement park at Broadway at the Beach, is the final defendant.
The slide stands 80 feet tall and provides a 200-foot ride, according to the lawsuit.
When the park is closed, there is no barrier to keep people from entering Pavilion Park and the rides are not secured. There is only a plastic gate blocking an entrance to the slide, the lawsuit contends.
In late April 2017, Mulcahy and McGovern were in Myrtle Beach for a friend’s wedding and entered a closed Pavilion Park, the suit says.
“Even though it was closed, the plaintiffs were easily able to move the unsecured gate at the entrance to the Pipeline Slide and climb the stairs to the top of the slide,” the filing reads.
The two women did not know water needed to be sprayed on the slide and a burlap sack was used to go down the ride.
They went down the slide and crashed into a metal barrier at the bottom. The filing says the women suffered broken ankles and knees and Mulcahy needed surgery.
The lawsuit contends that state code requires rides to be guarded against use by non-authorized people.
Defendants in the case failed to secure the slide to prevent access, and the two women were not given instruction on safe operation of the slide, the suit contends. The women ask for an unspecified amount of damages in the filing.
Officials from Broadway at the Beach did not respond in time for this report.
This story was originally published November 16, 2018 at 3:02 PM.