When you take your kids to a water park or splash pad, you might worry about them falling or drowning. But you probably don’t worry about them getting internal injuries. But that can happen, and a new bill in the Ohio Legislature aims to stop that.
In 2019, Kim Manion allowed her daughter, Makenna Day, to attend a birthday party at a Cincinnati area water park. A little while later, she received a frantic phone call.
“My baby girl was hysterical. She couldn’t tell me what happened," Manion told lawmakers in a recent Ohio House Committee hearing.
Makenna, now 8, told lawmakers what happened.
“I stood over a water squirter and got hurt, really bad," Makenna said.
Manion said the high-water pressure caused a vaginal laceration that required seven stitches, barely missing Makenna’s cervix.
This bipartisan House bill would limit the water pressure settings for splash pads and water features so they couldn’t hurt kids. It’s still being discussed in committee but could become “Makenna’s Law.”
Copyright 2021 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.
