According to the mom, as Dominic stood up, the older kid next to him bounced on the trampoline, causing the 9-year-old to collapse instantly. “He could no longer stand up after that,” Moreno said. The next few months of Dominic’s life were spent in and out of the hospital. The 9-year-old had to have his entire knee muscle flipped back into place, a clamp installed to hold the muscle together, external fixtures to stretch his growth plates, and a metal rod inserted in his leg to hold everything properly in place. “Our lives have been turned upside down since Dominic’s accident,” Moreno wrote. “Every day was a struggle for this sweet boy as he adjusted to life in a hospital bed in our living room.” But through all of her son’s suffering, Moreno says the most shocking revelation was when a doctor told her that trampoline parks are a “leading [cause of] injury to children.” In 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics actually released a statement saying that trampolines of all types are unsafe for children at any age, due to the serious risk of “cuts, sprains, broken bones, and even spinal injuries.” It recommends kids only use trampolines in supervised training environments, like gymnastics or diving classes. A study published in the American Academy of Pediatrics Journal found that between 2010 and 2014, the number of trampoline park injuries increased from 581 to 6,932, and between 2002 and 2011, there were more than one million emergency room visits due to trampoline injuries. The most common trampoline injuries are fractures, and about half of all injuries reported occurred in kids under 6. A number of injuries are also attributed to allowing more than one child to jump on a trampoline at a time because, as one study notes, when one kid lands right after another person bounces, there is “significant upward impaction force applied to the descending child’s legs.” In other words, the impact on the landing kid’s legs is greater, to a point where it can actually cause major injuries.
