Woman Sues Disney World After Suffering “Injurious Wedgie” On Water Slide

A woman is suing Disney World for $50,000 after claiming to suffer an “injurious wedgie” as a result of riding the Humunga Kowabunga water slide at Typhoon Lagoon. Emma and Edward McGuinness filed a lawsuit in Orange County, Florida last Wednesday over injuries Emma allegedly suffered after a 2019 visit to Disney World’s Typhoon Lagoon, which left her with “gynecologic injuries” beyond what she considered to be a reasonable risk of using the water slide.

According to the couple’s attorney Alan Wagner, Emma McGuinness visited Typhoon Lagoon in October 2019 and went down the Humunga Kowabunga water slide, which has a drop of 214 feet. “As Ms. McGuinness neared the end of The Slide, her body lifted up, she became airborne, and she was slammed downward against The Slide — which increased the likelihood of her legs becoming uncrossed or otherwise exposing herself to injury in using The Slide. The impact of The Slide and [Emma’s] impact into the standing water at the bottom of The Slide caused Ms. McGuinness’ clothing to be painfully forced between her legs and for water to be violently forced inside her,” Wagner wrote in the complaint obtained by Law & Crime. “She experienced immediate and severe pain internally and, as she stood up, blood began rushing from between her legs.”

According to the complaint, Emma McGuinness was “transported to a local hospital by ambulance for medical care and treatment, and eventually transported to another hospital for the repair of her gynecologic injuries by a specialist.”

While Emma McGuinness acknowledged that she understood there would be some risk involved in using the Humunga Kowabunga water slide, her lawsuit contends that the level of risk was far beyond a reasonable expectation.

“The Slide was unsafe and unreasonably dangerous to Ms. McGuinness and other patrons because it failed to meet the expectations of a reasonable consumer, including Ms. McGuinness,” Wagner wrote in the official complaint, noting that McGuinness is asking for $50,000 from the resort. She was at Typhoon Lagoon to celebrate her 30th birthday in 2019 and her ride on Humunga Kowabunga resulted in her suffering “severe and permanent bodily injury including severe vaginal lacerations, a full thickness laceration causing Plaintiff’s bowel to protrude through her abdominal wall, and damage to her internal organs.”

Romper’s request for comment from Disney World regarding the lawsuit was not immediately returned.

Disney World first opened its Typhoon Lagoon Water Park in 1989 before adding a second water park, Blizzard Beach, in 1995.