Child’s birthday “ruined” when boy smashes head due to "dangerous" mat at trampoline centre Flip Out

Mum Kayleigh Good splashed out nearly £150 for a group of 15 children to celebrate her daughter’s birthday at Flip Out, described by the company as “Portsmouth's hottest indoor trampolining centre”.

But the Havant parent was left livid by the “absolutely disgusting” turn of events at the Harbour Gate Business Park venue earlier this month when her eight-year-old son Harry was hurt after catching his foot on a “dangerous” damaged mat. Kayleigh said insult was added to injury by the firm’s response.

Flip Out has denied any wrongdoing and said bouncing should only take place in the middle of a mat as per their safety messaging, which the firm suggests did not happen in this incident. All staff have passed first aid training, the firm says.

Speaking of the incident Ms Good told The News: “Harry was bouncing on the trampoline and went to exit but caught his foot on the loose mat and went flying head first into solid flooring. The manager just left two young members of staff to deal with it all. He couldn't even be bothered to come to us initially. Flip Out has not even offered us an apology. 

“Numerous members of staff admitted the mat was not right and children were still aloud there whilst Harry was sitting on the floor bleeding. We cleaned away all the blood which took half an hour to stop. The manager only taped the mat down.”

Kayleigh said what was meant to be a fun day to celebrate her daughter’s birthday was totally “ruined”. She said: “We had taken 15 of us for my daughter’s party which ended up being ruined as we had to focus on Harry. The two young girls working there were amazing in how they helped but also clearly did not have the training they needed to do it confidently.

“There was a total disregard for what happened from the company. My poor son was covered in blood and didn't even receive so much as a sorry from the manager. In total I spent around £140 and have not even been offered £5 back. I would never ever take my children back there and think they seriously need to sort their safety levels out as clearly the mat had been faulty for a while.”

Kayleigh said she was told the mat was “still damaged” the following day and children with special educational needs were seen using the trampoline. The mum’s anger was further exacerbated when another person messaged her to say they had also been injured at the very same spot. “I was there a few months ago and my leg went straight down the very same spot. I mentioned it to staff and they said they were sorting it,” the person had told Kayleigh.

Flip Out joint owner Paul Papadatos said: "On our CCTV, you clearly see Harry jumping off a stunt box, he lands first in the middle of the mat, then the momentum takes him forward for his second bounce, which is too close to the end of the mat (no exit attempt), where his feet slide under the padding. This is the cause of the fall. In our safety briefing, we state that bouncing should only take place in the middle of the mat. Secondly, the floors around our trampolines are not solid, they are padded. Third, the padding is supposed to have some movement to minimise injury."

Referring to the photo of the damaged mat, Mr Papadatos said: "You can not, and must not lift the padded mats by the corner or by just one end. To move a padded mat, you must lift evenly across the complete surface area. Lifting the mat purely by the corner will pull the securing velcro away from the padding."