** Ed Treleven is a court reporter for the
Wisconsin State Journal.
** This Story is from The Wisconsin Dells events, a local Newspaper in Wisconsin
Dells
A Chicago family filed a $4 million wrongful death lawsuit against a Wisconsin Dells indoor water park last week, alleging that the owners of the park and one of its lifeguards were negligent in the drowning of a 4-year-old boy at the park in 1999.
The family of John Dresden Jr. sued the owners of the Bay of Dreams indoor
water park, lifeguard Jennifer Cole and the park's insurers in U.S. District
Court in Madison.
They claim that Cole left her position at the Lily Pad basketball pool on
October 12, 1999 and was not watching as the boy slipped under the water.
The Bay of Dreams is a part of the Treasure Island Resort in Wisconsin Dells. The 23-count lawsuit seeks more than $4 million for wrongful death, emotional distress, and medical and funeral expenses. Plaintiffs in the case are the boys parents, Tabatha and John Dresden Sr. and the boy's half-brother, Shawn Wood, all of whom have suffered the loss of the boy's companionship, society, love and affection, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges that the park's owners failed to have in place policies and procedures designed to avoid dangerous conditions and protect the safety of patrons using the facilities. The park also failed to supervise the boy's activities because it carelessly and negligently allowed a failure of communication among its employees, the lawsuit alleges.
As a result, it states nobody was in position to watch the boy as he experienced trouble swimming in deep water. The park also failed to start proper lifesaving procedures, failed to furnish adequate safety and resuscitative equipment and failed to start life saving procedures in a timely manner, the lawsuit states. The depth of the water where the boy drowned was also inadequately marked and the park's lifeguards were inadequately supervised, the lawsuit states.
The owner of Bay of Dreams, a part of Treasure Island Resort, could not be reached for comment.
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Wisconsin Dells Visitors Bureau - Click Here
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