Trampolines Cause Injuries For BHS Students.

Trampolines have become a reason why teenagers have been getting injured.

Trampolines+Cause+Injuries+For+BHS+Students.

Amber Magnant, Staff Writer

Jump at your own risk.

Across the country trampoline injuries have been on the rise. Even at Biddeford High students have experienced injuries from at-home and at trampoline parks. Senior Jordan Stickles injured his ankle.

“…I climbed [a] rope wall and I jumped down and when I landed, my foot just kinda collapsed under me,” said Stickles. “It went 90 degrees, it was bad.”

While accidents happen everyday, Stickles was affected by the pain suffered from his accident at a trampoline park.

“…I dropped right to the floor… Abbie [Paquette] was right next to me and she was laughing the whole time, then I started laughing too because she was laughing, I was like ‘Abbie I’m hurt,” said Stickles. “The worker was helping me up at that point, and I was in a lot of pain. I had to walk off of it and it was bad.”

Stickles’ rated his pain a 10 out of a 10, which has caused him not to go back to the trampoline park since the injury affected what he was allowed to do.

“I was suppose to run a 5k that Sunday and the accident was on Friday night, and I couldn’t run it [because] I was on crutches and an air cast for a week and half,” Stickles said.

While Stickles had a bigger injury, junior Carson Neumann also got injured but not as severely.

“I was going into the foam pit and the pit wasn’t fluffed out like it should’ve been,” said Neumann. “Under the foam there is a saftey trampoline, but under that is concrete, so when I jumped in, I didn’t land on my feet, I landed on my knee. So my knees hit the concrete on the bottom.”

Neumann differed from Stickles by how the injury affected what he could do.

“Well I wasn’t in any sport season or anything so it didn’t really affect me that much,” said Neumann. “I mean I wasn’t suppose to walk on it for a couple of days but I did anyways.”

Neumann and Stickles were both injured at a trampoline park and every year the rate of how many people get hurt on trampolines grow.

With injuries increasing over the years, trampolines are becoming increasingly uncommon in neighborhoods because insurance companies are refusing to pay for the injuries that result from improper use.

But a trampoline park isn’t the only place you can get hurt, at-home trampolines are another huge reason.

Freshman Brooklynn Soucier was injured on an at-home trampoline.

“My friend super bounced me and his little sister fell on my upper back and I bent in half at my ribs and not my waist,” Soucier said.

Soucier is proof that at-home trampolines can be equally dangerous.

“I ended up fracturing my spine,” Soucier said. “My T-3 and my T-4.”

Her T-3 and T-4 are in her upper back. Soucier didn’t notice what had happened, at first she thought she just pulled a muscle.

When it first happened I wasn’t in any pain, probably because I was in shock,” said Soucier. “I couldn’t really breathe because it knocked the wind out of me. But a couple seconds after it happened I was in a lot of pain and it hurt to move at all. I didn’t really think anything of it at first though.”

Injuries could happen to anyone and they may never know. Trampolines can injure any person if they don’t act correctly. On the NationWide Insurance website they report the percentages of which body parts are the most injured.

-Legs and feet: 40%

-Arms or hands: 29%

-Head, face or neck: 20%

-Shoulder or trunk: 10%

Stickles and Neumann were affected by their injuries but Soucier was affected more and was down for some time.

“After I got hurt I basically laid in my bed watching Netflix for about a week,” said Soucier. “They gave me strong pain medication but I barely take it.”

Soucier, Stickles and Neumann were all affected by their trampoline related injuries. But these injuries will not keep any of those three down. Soucier is determined to go back on a trampoline with her injury still in mind.

“Since I have gotten hurt I haven’t been able to go back on a trampoline because of my restrictions.”

Since there has been about 246,875 medically-treated trampoline injuries annually in the United States, on the Nationwide Insurance website they recommend ways to keep people safe on trampolines.

-Do not allow gymnastic exercises or stunts, such as somersaults or flips.

-Children age 5 and under should not be permitted on a trampoline.

-Never permit children to play on a wet trampoline.

-Provide adult supervision and adult spotters around the edge of the trampoline.

-Never allow children to bounce off the trampoline. Encourage them to stop bouncing, walk to the edge, sit and slide off.