There are always consequences for your actions, my sister Cameryn and Dad learned that the hard way. Let me tell you, racing in a waterpark hallway is not a very good idea. It was about seven years ago when this catastrophe took place and our family will surely never forget it. Looking back at this accident, our family just laughs at how stupid it was and surprised that my dad was okay.
When I was in second grade, my entire family went to Wisconsin Dells. We stayed at a waterpark called Great Wolf Lodge, it was always my favorite water park to go to and we went there a lot as a family. One thing that made it so cool for me was the waterpark was very rustic. The walls were made of lots of logs covered by many animal mounts. I remembered the large polar bear mount hanging over you as you approach it, he had large claws like knives just waiting to get you. His teeth were razors with yellow stains used to kill many animals before he was killed, he was very intimidating. The ride was a few hours and it felt longer than a few hours when riding with my family. After many bathroom breaks and lots of money spent at gas stations, we finally got there.
One thing that creates memorable moments for me is when I first step into the waterpark lobbies. I get that strong hint of chlorine, sort of burning your nose followed by the roar of the water and the screams of the people. I get anxious to get my stuff in the room and run down to the main park. My dad checked us into the water park, and I remember there were super large towering windows looking down at the main park. I could see people running and swimming all around, just making me even more excited. Our family got two large luggage carriers because we had around 10 suitcases. There’s a lot of extra luggage when you live with four girls. After we got the carriers, we got to our room and got everything settled. The room had a carpet filled with pine trees and Moose. When you first walk in, there was a little kitchen with a fridge and a microwave. To the left of that, there was a bathroom and a small shower like most water parks have. If you go further into the room, there were two king beds with a towering fireplace in front. The fireplace was made of brick, and that added a nice rustic feel. If you take a left, there was a staircase that led up to three beds on a loft. The loft was over the kitchen and the main entrance of the room. I slept upstairs with my two sisters and my brother while my mom, Dad, and two-year-old sister slept downstairs. After some time, my dad and I went down to the actual waterpark followed by my brother and my two older sisters.
The waterpark was very large; I bet there were over 50 slides there easily. The waterpark was split into two sections because it was that big, most of the people stayed in the main section of the waterpark. The main section had hot tubs, kiddie pools, and a lazy river. There were those large slow four-person slides that would loop all around the park like a snake, but in the corner, there was my favorite ride of all. To go on this slide, you had to get these blue mats to lay on while you were going down. Walking up the stairs felt like using the stairs to reach the top floor of a building, there were so many of them. It was hard for me when I would carry that large mat trying to run up to get to the slide time after time. Once you finally reach the top, there are these four slides, two are dark and two are lit up. I would always take the two lighter slides because the dark ones were so intimidating. The dark slides looked like a black hole waiting to suck you in, and once I finally reached the confidence I stepped up to the dark slides. I can remember my heart pounding so hard I’m surprised it didn’t pop out of my chest, I was about to back out, but my dad didn’t like that idea and forced me to go down. The slide started steep and then almost went straight down, the water was shooting in my face making me close my eyes. My heart felt like it was in my stomach as I went down giving me that roller coaster feeling. The ride then looped around and finished going down to the bottom where there was a long stretch of water to slow you down. It was such a rush, the slide was long, but you’d be going so fast that it doesn’t even feel if it is.
The second section had the large bucket that would tip over every minute or so. The water would just crash onto your head almost knocking you off your feet. In the second section, there was also a large course where you could run around on and shoot water at people from these water guns bolted to the section. There are other fun slides too, but the best was a ride called the howling tornado. The howling tornado has the perfect name as you loop around like a tornado with a roar of water behind you making you feel like you’re really in a tornado. Many times, I’d go up with my dad thinking I was brave enough to go on the slide but then I would head back down to the entrance. I could never get the guts to go on the slide, hearing the people scream as they go down what seemed like a waterfall. Even in previous years I would do the same, go up to the slide but then head back down. Finally, I went up again and was courageous enough to face my fears. The ride was such a thrill, going down the steep slope and then twisting around as if you were in an actual tornado. My dad was proud of me for going on and I was proud to say that I went on when I was only eight years old.
As we got done for the day, we went back up to our floor. We took the elevator up to the third floor together, but my brother decided to take the stairs. My family always gives my brother a hard time because he has a fear of elevators and heights. No matter which elevator was going up, he will always decide to take the stairs. We got up to our floor, the room was quite a walk away. I can remember my sister Cameryn and my dad planning out to race each other to the room, they went around the corner and got ready to race. My other sister Brianna and my brother Devin were down by our room ready to see who won as I was behind my sister and Dad ready to count them down. The hallway was cold because we were still wet, and the air conditioning was blasting through the vents. The good chlorine smell was in the air, our Mom was out of sight and an accident was waiting to happen. I counted down from three to one and then they were off. I can remember laughing because they were shoving back and forth trying to win what was such a pointless race. Cameryn shoved my dad and then my dad shoved back, one more shove was given to my dad but that last shove was just too much. My dad hit a corner of a wall that was sticking out because there was a cleaning room placed in the middle of a hallway. Down went my dad and he could barely breathe; his chest was purple with a long mark stretched down his chest. He could barely get to the room even with our help and we laid him on the bed. We knew this was serious, he had to get to the hospital as soon as possible.
My mom took him to the hospital not knowing where to turn or where she was. She was talking to On Star, trying to get the directions and she finally got to the hospital. I can remember Cameryn crying because she felt guilty of the incident that had just happened, we were all concerned for our Dad because without him, we wouldn’t know what to do. We all had to wait in the room for my mom to get back with the news of whether he would be okay or not. Finally, we heard a knock on the door.
We opened the door as if we haven’t seen my mom in two years. My mom said that my dad is okay, and is in the hospital, but he has broken ribs and a punctured lung. We all felt a wave of relief go over us like the large water bucket was pouring down relief from above. No more swimming was done that day, we all decided to lay low and to just sit together for the rest of the night. The next day all of us went to go visit my dad in the hospital, the hospital was just a little bit bigger than Amery’s hospital. My mom directed us to the room and there he was, surrounded by wires like he was in a jungle tangled in vines. We all had to laugh a little because this was such a dumb decision costing us a lot of money and a visit to the emergency room on our family trip.
My dad couldn’t do any physical activity for four weeks after the visit to the hospital. We are all so grateful that he was okay and that he had a good recovery. We still have a picture of Cameryn and our Dad in the hospital with Cameryn sticking up her finger to show that she had won the race. My mom now does not want anything to do with water parks since the incident and we are all cautious so we don’t make any other decisions that could result in unnecessary trips to the emergency room. The lesson learned during this trip is that waterpark hallways are made for walking and not racing.