Response re: Prosth. on roller coasters
Barry Steineman, CPO
Description
Collection
Title:
Response re: Prosth. on roller coasters
Creator:
Barry Steineman, CPO
Text:
I was asked to post responses on my query: Has anyone been asked to
guarantee prosthetic suspension at 120 mph and 5 Gs on an amusement park ride?
Many thanks to all who replied.
Barry, tell the two lower limb patients to wear long pants and avoid the
whole embarrassing situation. That's what I do and it works fine.
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WOW!!! this is a first...will you post your responses?
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Sounds like discrimination or BS to me. Do they require a statement from
the earring, pants, and shoe manufacturers, especially the cowboy boot
guys? Seriously. Do they? If not, why not?
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Barry, I have written a few letters for patients who attend Cedar Point. The
purpose of the letter is to assure the it is very unlikely a prosthesis
would come off during a ride based on the suspension systems being used. I also
advise the patient to use extra suspension when participating in such
activities. (TES Belts and such.)
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I am a BK amputee, and have gone to King's Island near Cincinnati many times
in my life, but won't be going back there anytime soon. There are signs on
some rides stating that you cannot ride with flip-flops, sandles, braces,
casts, prosthetic limbs, etc. So, my approach to this is to just take my leg
off (a simple task of just slipping the leg off, and leaving the liner on my
leg) and leave the leg with everyone's sandles while I ride the ride. When the
ride is over, I just have to step into the leg and I'm on my way to the next
one (like Face Off where your feet are dangling during the ride). The
wonderful employee there would not let me ride the coaster because I had a
prosthetic leg, but I educated her on the fact that I wasn't wearing a prosthetic
leg, just like everyone else that had flip-flops and left them sitting
there with my leg during the ride. She didn't seem to get it (and probably
didn't get much of anything, not the sharpest person I have ever talked to).
Anyway, the manager had to come to her rescue (at my demand and refusing to get
off the ride), and he agreed that if I was not wearing the leg on the ride,
then it doesn't matter whether I had a prosthetic leg or not. I rode the
ride, but can't say that I enjoyed it much after that commotion and frustration.
That happened over and over at that park, it sucked and I won't be going
back.
At Universal Studios in Orlando, there are a few rides where your feet also
dangle, and they were very cooperative with me and even offered to take my
leg for me, allowing me to sit on the ride, and then they would take it over to
the side and put it with the shoes and other items that were being left
behind. I would make a joke of it, telling them to not let it run off on me
while I was on the ride, and everyone around could hear that, and everyone was
dying laughing. It just so happens that the Dueling Dragons is one of my
favorite coasters there, and that is the ride where a few years ago, a BK
amputee claims to have lost his leg while on that ride. He claims that it fell off
and went sailing in to some lake or water area. The employees searched for
hours all around that ride, in all the ponds and water, and never found the
leg. Of course he sued the park and forced them to buy him a new leg. I
followed that story closely and also talked to the people at the park shortly
after this incident was in the news, and they said that they have some video of
this guy coming into the park with no leg, and also the employees seemed to
remember him getting on the ride using crutches, but they could not 100%
recall that for sure. Anyway, the park paid something huge to him to get a new
leg, and also for the pain and suffering caused to him for having to go the
rest of the day and the coming weeks with no leg. There are a lot of other
damning issues for this amputee, like they could not provide other records that
even show the last time he had gotten a leg that were not more than like 10
years old. It seems to me that this guy pulled this stunt just to get someone
with deep pockets to just pay the money and keep it out of the news as much
as possible. It is the fault of people like this that end up screwing up the
entire system for everyone else.
At Disneyworld, they are more than accomodating for people with
disabilities, even though I don't consider myself disabled.
I have never had anyone ask me (as a CP) to provide anything like this, and
if I was asked, I could not do it. There is NO way to guarantee that a leg
won't fly off when riding some of these rides. There are just some things in
life that are not fair or accessible to everyone. And I hope that they
never are forced to build some theme parks with rides that EVERYONE could ride
on. There is no such ride out there. Not even a simple train ride will
meet everyone's demands or special needs, and I am sure that someone would come
up with some crazy reason why they are being discriminated against because
they can't ride something like that.
Anyway, most parks I have been to (which are many) have been great to me,
but King's Island takes the cake for being the worst park ever when it comes to
employees and their understanding of their rules and the special needs of
the guests. There was no reason for me to have all the problems that I had,
like Face Off, the Drop Zone, and 2 others, where I literally took my leg off
and was still told that I could not ride it because I have a prosthetic
leg....but I was not wearing the leg, and they couldn't get it. I am not saying
anything racial here, but all these employees seemed to be from the ghettos of
Cincinnati that I was dealing with. I have never experienced this any other
place in my life, but that's not so say that it doesn't happen other places
either.
Tell the patient to either take the leg off, if at all possible, and then
ride the rides. That works for me, and I don't mind that at all. Even at
Epcot (Disneyworld Florida) the ride Soarin is a ride where my feet are
dangling, but not moving fast or pulling G's, but I still take it off so that I
don't have to worry about it falling off during the ride and hitting someone
below me, or freaking people out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like everything else, they just want to transfer liability. If you made the
prosthesis, it really does not matter, if it came off, you would be included
in the law suit.
What is the USA coming to?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
You were wise not to sign that! Maybe those people should have just worn
slacks so as to avoid any questions by the ride operators???
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A further question to your line of inquiry might be “how does one go about
testing that their suspension is adequate under those circumstances?” I suspect
that there might be ethical issues involved in sticking your clients into
centrifuges etc. in order to test their interface. One might pose that question
to the park requiring the documentation. Still, gives a new twist on “keep
arms and legs inside the car at all times,” no?
Very best of luck to you and your thrill-seeking clients.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I had such a request last year. I typed a quick memo and faxed it to the
park so that my client could enjoy the day at the park with his family. You are
liable 100%, 100% of the time anyway
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree with you on not guaranteeing the suspension. What about
removing the prosthesis if it is TT? I'm sure there are people in
wheelchairs that ride the rides. I assume a park attendant would
make sure the chair would be at the ride exit. But that is just a guess.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks again to all who replied, and to Paul P. for this great forum.
Barry Steineman, CPO/L
**************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for
FanHouse Fantasy Football today.
( <URL Redacted>)
guarantee prosthetic suspension at 120 mph and 5 Gs on an amusement park ride?
Many thanks to all who replied.
Barry, tell the two lower limb patients to wear long pants and avoid the
whole embarrassing situation. That's what I do and it works fine.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
WOW!!! this is a first...will you post your responses?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sounds like discrimination or BS to me. Do they require a statement from
the earring, pants, and shoe manufacturers, especially the cowboy boot
guys? Seriously. Do they? If not, why not?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barry, I have written a few letters for patients who attend Cedar Point. The
purpose of the letter is to assure the it is very unlikely a prosthesis
would come off during a ride based on the suspension systems being used. I also
advise the patient to use extra suspension when participating in such
activities. (TES Belts and such.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am a BK amputee, and have gone to King's Island near Cincinnati many times
in my life, but won't be going back there anytime soon. There are signs on
some rides stating that you cannot ride with flip-flops, sandles, braces,
casts, prosthetic limbs, etc. So, my approach to this is to just take my leg
off (a simple task of just slipping the leg off, and leaving the liner on my
leg) and leave the leg with everyone's sandles while I ride the ride. When the
ride is over, I just have to step into the leg and I'm on my way to the next
one (like Face Off where your feet are dangling during the ride). The
wonderful employee there would not let me ride the coaster because I had a
prosthetic leg, but I educated her on the fact that I wasn't wearing a prosthetic
leg, just like everyone else that had flip-flops and left them sitting
there with my leg during the ride. She didn't seem to get it (and probably
didn't get much of anything, not the sharpest person I have ever talked to).
Anyway, the manager had to come to her rescue (at my demand and refusing to get
off the ride), and he agreed that if I was not wearing the leg on the ride,
then it doesn't matter whether I had a prosthetic leg or not. I rode the
ride, but can't say that I enjoyed it much after that commotion and frustration.
That happened over and over at that park, it sucked and I won't be going
back.
At Universal Studios in Orlando, there are a few rides where your feet also
dangle, and they were very cooperative with me and even offered to take my
leg for me, allowing me to sit on the ride, and then they would take it over to
the side and put it with the shoes and other items that were being left
behind. I would make a joke of it, telling them to not let it run off on me
while I was on the ride, and everyone around could hear that, and everyone was
dying laughing. It just so happens that the Dueling Dragons is one of my
favorite coasters there, and that is the ride where a few years ago, a BK
amputee claims to have lost his leg while on that ride. He claims that it fell off
and went sailing in to some lake or water area. The employees searched for
hours all around that ride, in all the ponds and water, and never found the
leg. Of course he sued the park and forced them to buy him a new leg. I
followed that story closely and also talked to the people at the park shortly
after this incident was in the news, and they said that they have some video of
this guy coming into the park with no leg, and also the employees seemed to
remember him getting on the ride using crutches, but they could not 100%
recall that for sure. Anyway, the park paid something huge to him to get a new
leg, and also for the pain and suffering caused to him for having to go the
rest of the day and the coming weeks with no leg. There are a lot of other
damning issues for this amputee, like they could not provide other records that
even show the last time he had gotten a leg that were not more than like 10
years old. It seems to me that this guy pulled this stunt just to get someone
with deep pockets to just pay the money and keep it out of the news as much
as possible. It is the fault of people like this that end up screwing up the
entire system for everyone else.
At Disneyworld, they are more than accomodating for people with
disabilities, even though I don't consider myself disabled.
I have never had anyone ask me (as a CP) to provide anything like this, and
if I was asked, I could not do it. There is NO way to guarantee that a leg
won't fly off when riding some of these rides. There are just some things in
life that are not fair or accessible to everyone. And I hope that they
never are forced to build some theme parks with rides that EVERYONE could ride
on. There is no such ride out there. Not even a simple train ride will
meet everyone's demands or special needs, and I am sure that someone would come
up with some crazy reason why they are being discriminated against because
they can't ride something like that.
Anyway, most parks I have been to (which are many) have been great to me,
but King's Island takes the cake for being the worst park ever when it comes to
employees and their understanding of their rules and the special needs of
the guests. There was no reason for me to have all the problems that I had,
like Face Off, the Drop Zone, and 2 others, where I literally took my leg off
and was still told that I could not ride it because I have a prosthetic
leg....but I was not wearing the leg, and they couldn't get it. I am not saying
anything racial here, but all these employees seemed to be from the ghettos of
Cincinnati that I was dealing with. I have never experienced this any other
place in my life, but that's not so say that it doesn't happen other places
either.
Tell the patient to either take the leg off, if at all possible, and then
ride the rides. That works for me, and I don't mind that at all. Even at
Epcot (Disneyworld Florida) the ride Soarin is a ride where my feet are
dangling, but not moving fast or pulling G's, but I still take it off so that I
don't have to worry about it falling off during the ride and hitting someone
below me, or freaking people out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like everything else, they just want to transfer liability. If you made the
prosthesis, it really does not matter, if it came off, you would be included
in the law suit.
What is the USA coming to?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
You were wise not to sign that! Maybe those people should have just worn
slacks so as to avoid any questions by the ride operators???
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A further question to your line of inquiry might be “how does one go about
testing that their suspension is adequate under those circumstances?” I suspect
that there might be ethical issues involved in sticking your clients into
centrifuges etc. in order to test their interface. One might pose that question
to the park requiring the documentation. Still, gives a new twist on “keep
arms and legs inside the car at all times,” no?
Very best of luck to you and your thrill-seeking clients.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I had such a request last year. I typed a quick memo and faxed it to the
park so that my client could enjoy the day at the park with his family. You are
liable 100%, 100% of the time anyway
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree with you on not guaranteeing the suspension. What about
removing the prosthesis if it is TT? I'm sure there are people in
wheelchairs that ride the rides. I assume a park attendant would
make sure the chair would be at the ride exit. But that is just a guess.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks again to all who replied, and to Paul P. for this great forum.
Barry Steineman, CPO/L
**************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for
FanHouse Fantasy Football today.
( <URL Redacted>)
Citation
Barry Steineman, CPO, “Response re: Prosth. on roller coasters,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 1, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/229607.
