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Bill Would Limit Pressure Of Water Features At Splash Pads, Waterparks And Spas

toddler plays on splash pad
Christin Lola, Shutterstock.com
toddler plays on splash pad

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 tells lawmakers in a recent Ohio House Committee hearing.

Makenna Day with Rep Scott Lipps (R-Franklin)
Credit Ohiochannel
Makenna Day with Rep Scott Lipps (R-Franklin)

Makenna, now 8, told lawmakers what happened.

“I stood over a water squirter and got hurt, really bad," Makenna says.

Manion says the high-water pressure caused a vaginal laceration that required seven stitches, barely missing Makenna’s cervix.

This bipartisan House billwould 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.”  

Contact Jo Ingles at jingles@statehousenews.org.