Freak Bouncy Castle Accident Proves Fatal

Summer Grant, 7, was carried away by high winds
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 28, 2016 4:52 PM CDT
Girl, 7, Dies in Freak Bouncy Castle Accident
Police and forensic officers attend the scene Sunday, March 27, 2016, where a seven-year old girl died after she was blown by the wind about 500 feet on a bouncy castle on Saturday.   (Stefan Rousseau / PA via AP)

A seven-year-old girl died on Saturday, all because she was playing in a bouncy castle. A gust of wind sent the inflatable rolling for about 500 feet in a park near London, England, with young Summer Grant trapped inside, the Telegraph reports. Taken to hospital, she died of multiple injuries. "Words just can't explain how I am feeling right now, life is just truly cruel," her 26-year-old mother Cara Blackie tells Essex Police. "Summer was a bright, beautiful and most loving little girl, it is so unfair that you have been taken, it just doesn't make sense." Police have arrested a man, 27, and woman, 24, who work at the fairground on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence; both have been released on bail.

Forecasters had predicted high winds of up to 50mph, and a British code for inflatables requires they be turned off when winds exceed 24mph. "We did not allow them on this bouncy castle as it just didn't look safe," says a parent who attended the fair at Harlow Town Park on Saturday with her two kids. "The winds were just far too strong." Now a conservative legislator is asking whether bouncy castles should be banned from Harlow pending an inquiry, the BBC reports. It must be cold comfort for Summer's dad, Lee Grant: "I still can’t come to terms she's not here," he says in a police statement, per the Guardian. "We all love you so so much, you will always be with us; love you to the moon and back, all our love Daddy, Mummy and family xxxx." (A crowd-funding page has been set up for the family.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X