'My husband was banned from a theme park - but he was just trying to save our lives'

A man was so humiliated on a water ride at a theme park that he’s refused to return for two decades.

are a haven for thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies but they’re not without their risks. Visitors feeling particularly anxious or perturbed may well be justified. One father, not wanting to take a chance with his safety, chose to take a stand when they were the only people on a log-flume ride.

The theme park classic is a firm feature at many sites across the globe and sees passengers sit in artificial logs, or , which are propelled down a water flume before splashing into a body of water.

The man was with his two pre-teen sons and wife at the time. The family visited on a “light rain day” so the majority of the rides were “deserted”. This meant the four of them were the only passengers on the water log attraction, which was equipped to carry many more people.

Recounting their experience on Reddit, the man’s wife said they “unfortunately backloaded the ride” but were “having a good time” until they “started up the chain conveyor belt to gain some elevation for a fun splash down”.

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This is where things took a turn. She explained: “The ride wouldn’t catch and the front started bouncing up and down, violently. We were screaming, but who isn’t at a theme park and we were just out of view of the workers at the top of the conveyor belt.

“This probably happened in seconds but it felt like minutes of ‘bounce, bounce, bounce’. My husband decided to use the emergency stairs that run parallel to the conveyor belt to go up to the workers to have them stop the ride.

“He stepped out of the ride and ran up a few stairs when the workers noticed and stopped the ride… but they never saw the ride malfunction, just my husband on the stairs. The workers immediately stopped the ride and called security.”

After this, the theme park staff wouldn’t allow the father to move, nor would they let his wife and children, who were crying and feeling very uneasy, get off the ride. Eventually, a security guard came and took the man away while telling his wife and children “they were restarting the ride”.

The woman added: “I told him, ‘not with me and my boys in it’ and he actually looked shocked, tried to argue with me. We were allowed to disembark and were taken to the front where my husband was being processed.

"My husband, who has never ever broken the law (nor most polite rules of society) felt humiliated. He was given a one year ban from the park and we had to immediately leave. He has not stepped foot into an amusement park for the last 20 years.”

Fellow Reddit users shared their thoughts on the family’s experience in the comments section. One person said: “This is almost exactly how four people died in recently”, referring to the tragic Dreamworld incident of 2016.

Someone else added: “OMG that's horrible! And the added insult of your husband being banned for literally trying to save your lives. I'm pretty sure that ride isn't supposed to bounce. They should have given him a year's pass for free instead of a ban.”