While on vacation, an 11-year-old boy from Brazil had his leg and foot crushed while riding on the E.T. ride at Universal Studios. This incident occurred in late January, according to a lawsuit the mother filed. In late February, Roberta Perez filed the suit, seeking a minimum of $15,000 in damages for the incident that occurred on January 31.
During the incident, the left foot of Tiago Perez became stuck between the cement offloading area at the end of the ride and the ride vehicle. Tiago’s shoe fell off and his foot was crushed, according to attorney Edmund Normand, who is based in Orlando. The incident caused Tiago to break multiple bones in his leg, his toes, and his foot in a bloody scene.
The lawsuit claims that Universal Studios has knowledge prior to the accident that the design, testing, manufacture, construction, or operation of the E.T. Adventure ride created a dangerous environment resulting in injuries to the guest. However, Universal Studios continued to portray the ride as safe to the public. Universal Studios declined to comment on the lawsuit or the allegations.
E.T. Adventure is one of the original rides of Universal Studios Florida when the park opened in the year of 1990. The ride involves taking riders up in the air on bicycles to recreate scenes from the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The rider is then taken to the recreated Green Planet.
According to Normand, Tiago didn’t do anything wrong to cause the accident. He was simply being a normal rider and kid. The feet of Tiago were not on the pedals of the bike. Rather, his feet dangled. However, they were inside the vehicle of the ride as required. Normand is attempting to obtain video footage of the incident. The family of Tiago were witnesses of the incident. His mother sat with Tiago in the same row while the rest of his family members were behind him.
Tiago is currently receiving treatment from an orthopedic surgeon in Brazil. He still hasn’t returned to school many weeks after the incident. Tiago must keep his foot elevated and his hasn’t been able to return to playing on his soccer team in Brazil.
