CLEVELAND — There’s plenty of ups and downs at an indoor trampoline park.
But more and more, when someone goes down, they stay down, often with severe injuries.
These parks are growing in popularity all around Northeast Ohio as parents push their children off the couch, away from video games, to bouncing romps on the trampoline.
And while some studies show injuries growing by more than 1,000 percent in just the past four years, these parks continue to be unregulated in Ohio.
Inside these parks, you’ll see kids having a blast. But in the blink of an eye, one young boy lands awkwardly, severely twisting his leg.
It’s much like what happened to 6-year-old Roman Courtad of Aurora during a visit to Zip City in Streetsboro.
"I was playing dodge ball,” Roman remembers.
What was supposed to be a kid’s game, turned traumatic for Roman and his family.
“As he jumped up, a ball went underneath his feet and he jumped on it. It kind of gave way and he fell into something and cracked his leg,” his mother, Kyla Courtad said.
Roman went from flying around to being confined in a wheelchair with a broken leg. His mother is critical of the staff supervision and their response to her son’s injury.
"There are all ages mixed together,” she said. “He couldn't move his leg. People didn't care. It was insensitive.”
The growing popularity of trampoline parks has meant a growing reliance on local EMS units. Sky Zone has locations on all sides of Cleveland, one in Westlake, another in Highland Heights and a third to the south in Boston Heights.
Channel 3 News requested records and 9-1-1 recordings of some emergency calls:
"We need an ambulance. We think a girl has broken her leg.”
“She thinks she popped her knee out of socket.”
“Her nose is uncontrollably bleeding and she's throwing up.”
In fairness, it’s important to note that most visitors to the parks walk away unscathed. But medical experts warn that the number of injuries has jumped in recent years.
Dr. Susannah Briskin examines patients with trampoline-related injuries every week at University Hospital.
“We have seen incidents of people nationally who have been paralyzed due to trampoline injuries, including death,” Dr. Briskin said.
At least six people have died in trampoline-related injuries since 2012.
Dr. Briskin found injuries are often caused by flipping and landing on your head and neck. In some instances, smaller children collide with taller and heavier kids bouncing between trampolines with steel cables or chain links under padding.
“With trampoline injuries, approximately 1 in 200 will result in permanent neurological injuries,” Briskin added.
One recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics, showed injuries jumped from 581 to 6,932 in a four-year span.
To protect themselves, many parks require visitors to sign waivers. At Sky Zone, the waiver is four pages and essentially bars anyone from taking the company to court.
“You have a corporate lawyer, probably, who spent days drafting this, throwing everything in the kitchen sink to protect and deter,” said attorney Chris Patno.
Channel 3 News attempted to contact Zip City five times for comment. The calls were ignored.
Sky Zone, however, issued a statement:
"Safety is our top priority. We invest in best-in-class equipment...and educate guests about safety by posting important rules. Court monitors help enforce those rules.”
One parent said he believes the parks are putting profits ahead of the children they target. At Sky Zone, he saw three children, including two of his own, suffer broken bones and an ankle sprain.
“At the end of the day, they're making a profit off kids,” the father said. “I just think it’s dangerous.”