Man sues over belly-flop injuries
Radio station Rock 94.5 advertised a June 2003 Pink Floyd laser light show at a Coeur d’Alene water park as a night for barbecue, water sliding and babes in bikinis, with “Pink Floyd music cranked” and “lasers stabbin’ the sky.”
A Rathdrum man filed a lawsuit this week saying the evening left him with lasting physical and emotional injuries and permanent loss of hearing – but not from the music.
According to the suit filed Tuesday in District Court, Cameron Hendewerk was attending the show at Wild Waters in Coeur d’Alene when he participated in a belly-flop contest sponsored by Rock 94.5.
The suit says the pool of water that participants were belly-flopping into was about 3 feet deep. When Hendewerk jumped in, he hit his head on the bottom of the pool, rupturing his eardrum and “causing deep lacerations on his face,” the suit says.
Hendewerk suffers from permanent hearing loss in his left ear, according to the suit. His lawyers are asking for damages of more than $10,000 for physical pain, medical expenses, lost wages and mental pain and suffering.
The claim says that Hendewerk’s “emotional distress manifested itself into physical injury” and that he has a hard time concentrating and sleeping. The suit alleges both the radio station and Wild Waters were negligent.
Hendewerk could not be reached Thursday, and Rock 94.5 did not return a call seeking comment Thursday afternoon. A Wild Waters spokesman said they had not been served papers and weren’t aware a suit had been filed.
Archived Web pages for Wild Waters and Rock 94.5 show that they advertised there would be a beer garden at the light show, but Rock 94.5 later reported on its Web site that city code wouldn’t allow the beer garden.
“However, you can bring your own beer into the park,” the Web site said.
Court papers didn’t mention whether alcohol was served or specify whether Hendewerk was drinking that night.
Several laser shows were scheduled that summer at Wild Waters, according to a schedule posted on the Web site in 2003.