Faulty water slide caused injury at Sesame Place, suit says

A New Jersey woman says that a poorly designed water slide at Sesame Place in

Langhorne, Pa., caused severe damage to her left knee, according to a federal lawsuit filed at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The complaint, filed against Sesame Place and its managing company, SeaWorld Entertainment, seeks damages in excess of $150,000 for Hyobin Kim and her husband Ho Young Lee, who claims loss of consortium with his wife since the injury.

According to the complaint, the couple had gone to the park with their 18-month-old son on July 4, 2012. Kim had taken her son to the Splash Castle attraction and went down a kiddie slide with her child.

At the bottom of the slides sat a mattress, installed in order to provide a soft landing for the guests. When Kim stood up on the mattress, she slipped and fell, striking her knee against a piece of sharp metal that was used to fasten the cushion to the pool's floor. The fall caused a deep, 10-centimeter long laceration in her left knee, the complaint says.

Kim claims that the injury was caused by negligence on the part of the Sesame Place staff and management because they failed to provide a safe environment for their customers, did not take necessary precautions before operating the Splash Castle and did not properly insulate the piece of exposed metal that cut Kim's knee.

The suit says that Kim suffered internal derangement of the left knee, severe pain and suffering, permanent scarring and decreased range of motion, forcing extensive medical and surgical care. As a result of the injuries, Kim has been unable to perform her normal duties and continues to suffer pain, humiliation and "a loss of self-worth," the complaint says.

Kim is represented by Raymond Bily, of the Philadelphia firm Reiff and Bily.

The federal case ID number is 2:14-cv-03201-LFR.