Aurora mother seeks changes after daughter fractures wrist on playground

Local children have nicknamed Copland Park 'death park' because children get hurt playing there

Yorkregion.com
June 5, 2019
Teresa Latchford

An Aurora mother is looking to the town to make changes to the play equipment at Copland Park after her daughter was injured.

Adilia Boulagakova often allows her 12-year-old daughter Anastasia go with friends to the local parks within walking distance of their Aurora home, so she didn’t think twice about letting her play at Copland Park on Aurora Heights Drive.

“She had been there before and she was going with a friend,” she said. “But we found out the park is quite dangerous.”

Boulagakova received a phone call from her daughter who was in pain and sobbing, asking her to come to the park. Anastasia had been playing on the carousel -- a piece of equipment where children sit in plastic seats and use a plate in the middle to make the base turn -- when her arm got stuck between the plate and one of the seats, fracturing her wrist.

“She was in so much pain when she called, but thankfully parents at the park tended to her until I arrived and took her to the hospital,” Boulagakova said. “The design of the equipment is flawed, there isn’t enough space between the seats and the turn plates.”

Since the incident, Boulagakova has learned her daughter’s friends and local children have nicknamed this park the "death park” because so many children get hurt while playing on the equipment.

Boulagakova took to social media to warn other parents of the risks, and others commented that the slide is too steep and the exit at the bottom too short, which has resulted in their children flying out the bottom of the slide and hitting their heads on the ground.

Boulagakova visited the park following her daughter’s injury and tested the slide herself. She said she weighs 50 kilograms and was measuring her speed down the slide as seven kilometres per hour. She suspects a child could exceed that speed.

“I don’t want the park shut down, I just want the town to consider making some adjustments to ensure more children don’t get hurt,” she said. "I want other parents to come forward and file a formal complaint with the town as I have if their child has been hurt.”

Town of Aurora spokesperson Stephanie Mackenzie-Smith confirmed the town did receive a complaint from Boulagakova but hers is the only one specific to that park.

The play equipment at this particular park was installed in the fall of 2018 and is relatively new, Mackenzie-Smith added. The park equipment is inspected monthly by a certified playground inspector as required by CSA standards.

“Safety is always our primary concern,” she said. “If a safety complaint is received it is investigated immediately, feedback is provided and the problem is mitigated, if required.”

In the case of Boulagakova’s complaint, an investigation has been conducted and it was determined there were no hazards and that the equipment meets CSA standards.

She pointed out that all parks and playgrounds have signage indicating user responsibility and risk. As for liability for a specific injury as a result of playing on town-owned equipment, Mackenzie-Smith said it would require a legal process to determine where the onus of the liability lies.

Following the conclusion of the town’s investigation, Boulagakova is still not convinced the playground equipment is safe. She intends to continue to do her own research by contacting Health Canada and possibly filing a complaint against the manufacturer of the equipment and asking if there have been any other complaints about the make and models of this playground equipment.

“I would be very upset if I didn’t say anything and another child was seriously hurt,” she said. “We all have a duty to keep our kids safe.”

She encourages all parents whose child or children have been injured at Copland Park or any other park in town to file a formal complaint by contacting the town at 905-727-1375 or info@aurora.ca.