‘Quite scary’: Father of girl shocked at B.C. waterpark speaks out

A man whose daughter was one of the dozen kids taken to hospital after an electrical incident during a field trip to a waterpark has many unanswered questions.

A B.C. parent said he was expecting the worst when he got a call about a frightening electrical incident at Cultus Lake Waterpark that sent a dozen children to hospital Monday.

Port Coquitlam resident Darin Nielsen said initially, there was very little information passed along about what had happened to his 13-year-old daughter, Isabella.

But he said when his wife called a second time, she was in tears.

“The information she got was that there was an electrocution,” he said.

“It was quite scary. I mean, you get choked up driving to Abbotsford because all you are doing is imagining the worst scenario. Electrocution is what was said as opposed to electric shock.”

• RELATED: Investigation identifies ‘non-compliance’ issue after children injured at B.C. waterpark

Isabella was one of the children taken to Abbotsford Regional Hospital after her leg came into contact with a railing post at the waterslides.

“She had a big red mark on her leg and had lost some sensation in her lower leg,” her dad said, explaining that he had worried her condition would be much worse.

“When I did arrive (at hospital), she gave me the thumbs up. For me, it wasn’t what I was expecting, thankfully.”

His daughter was released Tuesday afternoon.

Children from Minnekhada Middle School in Port Coquitlam were hurt after making contact with a railing in the queuing area beneath a ride.

The Grade 6 and 7 students were on a field trip.

His daughter told him that, “There’s a railing that you’re next to, and when they touched it, they got an electric shock. And some of the kids…couldn’t let go of it because they had two hands on it, so they got an even worse shock.”

She told him a couple kids fell unconscious.

Nielsen said his understanding is that some parts of the park remained open for a time after the incident, and he said that is a concern to him.

He thinks the entire park should have been shut down immediately.

“You would think they should have just, out of caution, closed the whole park down on their own,” he said.

Nielsen wants to know how the incident happened.

“What happened and what was the cause, and could it have been prevented?” he asked.

Port Coquitlam’s mayor said when he heard the news of children being hurt at the waterpark, his heart sank.

“I think that the public deserves to know exactly what happened,” said Mayor Brad West.

“Any time you have something like this happen, the questions have to be asked, ‘Why did this happen? Why weren’t there steps taken to prevent it? Why aren’t there additional measures to ensure something like this can’t happen?’”

The agency leading the investigation, Technical Safety B.C., said Thursday that preliminary findings have “identified electrical non-compliances at the site.”

“In order for the park to reopen, we will need to conduct further investigation, and the park owner will need to correct all hazards,” the agency said.

“Given the regulated electrical and amusement device equipment involved in this incident, our safety officers are currently on-site conducting a thorough assessment.”

The waterpark remains closed with no timeline for reopening.

Meanwhile, the administrator of Cultus Lake Waterpark has sent an apology letter to families.

“We at Cultus Lake Waterpark are deeply saddened and sorry for the tragic accident,” the letter from Andrew Steunenberg reads.

“We want to extend our regrets to the entire student body, staff and families, most certainly impacted by the awful event, many of whom were at the waterpark and witnessed it.”

He said they are fully co-operating with Technical Safety B.C. in the investigation and will issue an admissions refund to the school.

 “We wish to apologize and stress our regrets for this accident,” the letter reads.