“His feet hit the mat, and almost instantly his knees buckled down, and he just let out the worst scream that you could ever have heard from a child.”
Those were the words of Kati Hill, the mother of a three-year-old boy named Colton whose femur was shattered at a trampoline park. That scream is the sound of a childhood changing forever in two seconds. If you are reading this while sitting in a hospital waiting room near New Braunfels, or if you just returned home from a trauma center with a child in a body cast, we want you to know something that the park manager and the insurance adjuster will never tell you: this was not an accident.
What happened to your child at an Urban Air in New Braunfels or a backyard trampoline in a neighborhood off Landa Street was the predictable, documented output of a business decision. The American Academy of Pediatrics has been warning since 1999 that trampolines do not belong in recreational use. The industry itself wrote its own safety standard, ASTM F2970, to establish a minimum floor for care—and then the industry systematically chose to operate below that floor to protect profit margins.
At Attorney911, we don’t handle trampoline injury cases like a typical slip-and-fall. We built our practice around the science of energy transfer, the biology of pediatric growth plates, and the corporate archeology of the multi-billion-dollar private equity firms that own these parks. Our managing partner, Ralph Manginello, brings over 25 years of courtroom experience, including federal court admission in the Southern District of Texas. Our team includes Lupe Peña, a former insurance defense attorney who used to write and defend the very waivers that New Braunfels trampoline parks now try to use as shields.
We know how they think. We know their script. And we know how to dismantle it. From our offices in Houston, Austin, and Beaumont, we represent families in New Braunfels and across the country who are fighting for accountability after a life-altering jump.
The New Braunfels Trampoline Industry: A High-Density Risk Corridor
New Braunfels sits at the heart of the I-35 corridor, one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States. With that growth has come a saturation of family entertainment centers. The Urban Air Adventure Park in New Braunfels represents the modern pivot of the industry. These facilities are no longer just “trampoline parks”; they are massive warehouses of risk that bolt on go-karts, Sky Rider indoor coasters, ropes courses, and climbing walls.
The business model for these parks in New Braunfels depends on high volume. On a Saturday afternoon, when the summer heat makes the Comal River too crowded and families seek air-conditioned entertainment, these parks fill beyond safe capacity. When throughput peaks, safety protocols slip. Court monitors—often teenagers themselves with as little as two to four hours of training—are spread thin across multiple attractions.
When your eight-year-old is double-bounced by an adult four times his size, or your daughter falls thirty feet from a climbing wall because a harness wasn’t attached, the park will point to the waiver you signed at the kiosk. In Texas, we have a clear answer to that. We look at the $11.485 million verdict in Harris County against Cosmic Jump, where a jury found gross negligence—a conscious disregard for safety—destroys that waiver entirely.
What happened to your family in New Braunfels is not an isolated incident. It is part of a pattern we track through CPSC NEISS data, showing over 300,000 trampoline-related ER visits annually. It is a pattern we document through the 2024 Teague Pediatrics study, which found that foam pits produce nearly two injuries for every 1,000 jumper-hours. We don’t just see the injury; we see the system that produced it.
The Physics of a Catastrophe: Why the Double-Bounce Destroys Pediatric Bones
Most parents in New Braunfels believe the padding and the netting at jump parks make the environment safe. The physics says otherwise. The most dangerous mechanism on a trampoline court is the double-bounce, and it is governed by the laws of energy transfer that no amount of foam can fully mitigate.
When two people jump on the same trampoline bed, the bed acts as an energy reservoir. If a 200-pound adult lands just as a 50-pound child is beginning their upward push, the kinetic energy from the adult transfers through the bed into the child. This doesn’t just add to the child’s jump; it multiplies it. A child in this scenario can be launched with up to four times their normal force.
The child’s skeletal system is not designed to decelerate from that velocity. Pediatric bone is biomechanically distinct from adult bone. It is more pliable, but it contains growth plates—the physis—made of cartilage. When a child in New Braunfels lands after a double-bounce, the force travels through the leg and strikes the growth plate.
This is where “a broken leg” becomes a decade-long medical journey. We look specifically for Salter-Harris fractures. A Salter-Harris Type II fracture of the distal tibia at age nine may not show its true damage until age fourteen, when the bone that should have produced height fails to do so, leading to limb-length discrepancy or angular deformity.
If your child was hurt on a Saturday afternoon at a New Braunfels park, the park’s defense lawyer will call it a “freak accident.” We call it a violation of ASTM F2970’s age and weight separation provisions. The standard—written by the industry itself—requires parks to keep small children away from larger jumpers. When New Braunfels monitors fail to enforce those zones because the park is understaffed, the double-bounce isn’t an accident. It is a breach of the duty of care.
The Waiver Myth: Why You Can Still Sue in New Braunfels
The #1 reason parents in Comal County hesitate to call an attorney is the “paper shield.” You stood at a kiosk at Urban Air, you were rushed by a line of families behind you, and you tapped “I Agree” on a 20-page document you didn’t have time to read. You think you signed away your rights.
You didn’t.
Under Texas law, and specifically the doctrine established in Munoz v. II Jaz Inc., a parent generally cannot sign away a minor child’s personal cause of action for injuries sustained at a commercial venue. Even if the waiver holds against you as the parent, it rarely holds against the child.
Furthermore, our firm, led by Ralph Manginello and assisted by former defense attorney Lupe Peña, analyzes every New Braunfels waiver for compliance with the Dresser v. Page Petroleum “fair notice” doctrine. In Texas, a waiver that purports to release a company from its own future negligence must be conspicuous and explicit. If the print was too small, if it was buried on a digital screen, or if it used generic language that failed the “express negligence” test, that waiver is not a wall. It is noise.
We also pursue the gross-negligence carve-out. No waiver in Texas can release a defendant from gross negligence—conduct that involves an extreme degree of risk that the park was aware of and chose to ignore. When we send a 24-hour spoliation letter to a New Braunfels park, we are looking for the “revised” incident reports, the overwritten surveillance footage, and the inspection logs that show the foam pit was compacted below the 8-inch ASTM spec for weeks. That is the evidence that kills the waiver.
The Corporate Archeology of Accountability
When we sue for a trampoline injury in New Braunfels, we don’t just name the local operator LLC. The money is always upstream. We walk through the corporate archeology of the chain.
If your child was hurt at an Urban Air, the defendant stack often includes the local franchisee, UATP Management LLC (the franchisor), and its parent company Unleashed Brands. We know that in February 2023, Seidler Equity Partners acquired Unleashed Brands “amid lawsuits” targeting the franchisor. We know that Sky Zone, Inc. was renamed from CircusTrix in early 2023 and is backed by the private equity giant Palladium Equity Partners.
Why does this matter for your New Braunfels case? Because these national conglomerates have deep-pocket insurance towers. The local LLC might carry a $1 million policy that barely covers the first six months of a spinal cord injury. Above that sits the franchisor’s umbrella, the corporate parent’s excess policy, and the franchisor’s “additional insured” coverage.
We’ve gone head-to-head with Fortune 500 companies like Walmart, Amazon, and BP. We treat the private equity sponsors behind these jump parks with the same relentless discovery protocols. We subpoena the franchisor’s audit reports for the New Braunfels location. We find out if the corporate office documented safety violations and allowed the park to keep operating anyway to hit a margin target.
Rhabdomyolysis: The Hidden Emergency in Indoor Parks
Not all New Braunfels trampoline injuries involve a fall. We are one of the few firms in the country with an active medical-litigation architecture for rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure. We are currently litigating a $10 million lawsuit against the University of Houston involving rhabdo—the same catastrophic muscle breakdown seen in jump parks.
Trampoline parks in Central Texas can be heat traps. When a child jumps for 90 to 120 minutes straight without proper hydration, their muscles can begin to rupture. This releases myoglobin into the bloodstream, which is toxic to the kidneys.
If your child visited a park in New Braunfels and developed dark “cola-colored” urine, listlessness, and extreme muscle pain 24 to 48 hours later, you need an emergency room immediately. And you need a lawyer who understands the CK (creatine kinase) trajectory and the renal-failure curve. We know the experts, we know the science, and we know how to hold institutional defendants accountable for failing to provide water and rest-break protocols.
The Evidence Clock: Why the Next 7 Days Are Critical
In New Braunfels, the legal statute of limitations for personal injury is generally two years. However, the evidence statute of limitations is much shorter.
Most park DVR systems in New Braunfels are programmed to overwrite surveillance footage in as little as 7 to 30 days. If your child was hurt, the most vital piece of evidence in your case—the video showing the attendant on his phone while the double-bounce happened—is already on a countdown to destruction.
The incident report you filled out at the park is on a computer system where revisions are tracked by metadata. If the park “finalizes” or “corrects” that report after you leave, we need to subpoena the audit logs immediately. The waiver kiosk database may purge its version history on a 72-hour rolling schedule.
This is why our spoliation letters go out within 24 hours of retention. We don’t wait for your child to get out of the hospital to start the investigation. We file fast. We preserve the evidence. We freeze the park’s ability to “sanitize” the record of what happened to you.
Frequently Asked Questions for New Braunfels Families
Can I sue if I already signed the Urban Air waiver in New Braunfels?
Yes. As the Texas Supreme Court cases including Munoz and the Cosmic Jump verdict prove, a waiver is not an automatic bar to recovery. We attack the waiver on formation (did you have time to read?), conspicuousness (was it bold and clear?), minor-indemnity (did you sign for a child?), and scope (did it cover the park’s gross negligence?). In many cases, the waiver is unenforceable.
My child was hurt by another kid double-bouncing them. Is the park still liable?
Absolutely. The park’s primary duty is supervision and enforcement of safety rules. ASTM F2970 requires parks to separate jumpers by age and weight. If the park allowed a size mismatch on the same bed, they are responsible for creating the dangerous condition, regardless of who the other jumper was.
How much is my child’s trampoline injury case worth?
Catastrophic cases involving spinal cord injuries or TBIs can result in multi-million dollar settlements. We use life-care planners to calculate the cost of the next 70 years of your child’s medical needs, special education, and lost earning capacity. Smaller fracture cases also yield significant recoveries when we document the permanent impact on growth plates and joint health.
What if my child is undocumented? Does that affect the case in New Braunfels?
No. Every child has a right to be safe in a commercial business. Your immigration status is irrelevant to the park’s negligence. Our communications are privileged and confidential. We work with families using ITINs every day.
Why shouldn’t I talk to the insurance adjuster who called me?
The adjuster is trained to set the “Recorded Statement Trap.” They sound friendly but are looking for any admission—”I wasn’t watching for a second,” “He’s handled the trampoline fine before”—to reduce the park’s liability. They may also offer “Med-Pay,” which is a small check with a release on the back that ends your case for pennies on the dollar.
The Moat: Why Choose Attorney911
We represent families. We represent the parent at the bedside watching a specialist explain why their child’s athletic dreams are over at age ten. We don’t just “handle cases”; we build architectures of accountability.
With 25+ years of trial experience, Ralph Manginello has navigated some of the most complex corporate litigation in Texas history. Our associates, including the bilingual Lupe Peña, bring an insider’s view of how recreational businesses build their defenses. We advanced every expense—biomechanical engineers, pediatric orthopedic surgeons, ASTM compliance experts—because your child’s recovery fund shouldn’t be drained by the cost of justice.
We have three offices in Texas and a knowledge base that covers every state in the country. Whether the injury happened at a Sky Zone, an Urban Air, an Altitude, or a backyard trampoline with a manufacturing defect, we have the map to the deepest pocket.
Contact New Braunfels’ Trampoline Injury Team Today
Your child’s case will be decided by what gets preserved this week. The DVR is running. The attendants are moving to new jobs. The incident report is being “revised.”
Call 1-888-ATTY-911 (1-888-288-9911). We answer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Hablamos Español. Our spoliation letter goes out within 24 hours of your call. The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we win.
Don’t let a piece of paper signed at a kiosk determine the rest of your child’s life. Let us show you what the law actually says in Texas.
Call 1-888-ATTY-911 | Attorney911.com
Detailed Breakdown of Injury Mechanisms and Corporate Standards
The ASTM F2970 Compliance Gap
In our investigation of New Braunfels parks, we look specifically for breaches of the current ASTM F2970-22 standard. This standard was written by the trampoline industry itself, which means when a park fails it, they are operating below the bar they collectively admitted was necessary for safety.
Key violations we document:
- Attendant-to-jumper ratios: On a Saturday afternoon, staffing levels often drop below the 1:32 industry target.
- Foam pit depth: We demand rotation logs to see if foam has been maintained to depth or if it has bottomed out under heavy traffic.
- Daily inspection signatures: Pro-forma logs where every box is checked “Pass” for 90 consecutive days are often evidence that no inspection actually took place.
The Salter-Harris Classification and Your Child’s Future
In pediatric cases, we don’t just look at the X-ray. We analyze the growth plate. A Salter-Harris Type V fracture—a crush injury to the physis—carries the worst prognosis. It often leads to the growth plate stopping production of bone entirely. This can cause the limb to grow crookedly or stop growing while the other leg continues. The damages calculation for this requires a life-care planner who can project the costs of corrective surgeries occurring years after the park visit.
Scalp Avulsion and Hair Entrapment
One of the most disfiguring injuries parents in New Braunfels are never warned about is hair entrapment. Long hair can wrap around exposed trampoline springs or through netting gaps. The force of a single rebound is enough to produce scalp avulsion. Most New Braunfels parks have no policy requiring hair to be braided or contained, despite the visibility of this risk in general amusement-ride safety data.
The Franchisee Shield and Apparent Agency
When the franchisor says “we’re just a brand,” we use the doctrine from Baptist Memorial Hospital System v. Sampson. The branding at a New Braunfels park is total—the Urban Air logos on the shirts, the Sky Zone safety video, the franchisor’s website that processes the payment. If a reasonable parent in New Braunfels believed they were doing business with the national brand, the national brand is on the hook.
Action Steps for Parents in the Next 24 Hours
- Take photos of everything. The injury, the hospital wristbands, the child’s clothing, and any bruises.
- Retrieve the receipt and wristband. These are the primary proof of your visit and the time jump started.
- Screenshot the park’s social media. If they held a “Glow Night” or a special event on the day of the injury, that content is evidence of reduced visibility and increased crowd size.
- Demand a copy of the incident report. Send an email to the park manager today. Even if they refuse, the refusal is evidence.
- Call 1-888-ATTY-911. We provide a downloadable evidence-preservation template for families who need to act immediately.
The insurance carriers for national chains like Sky Zone, Inc. and Unleashed Brands hire elite defense firms to protect their bottom line. Your child deserves a team that has been fighting those same firms for 25 years.
Attorney911: Built for the Fight. Built for Your Family.
Rhabdomyolysis and the Comal County Context
In the hot Texas summers, New Braunfels families often choose the trampoline park to escape the sun. But the combination of extreme exertion and high humidity inside an under-ventilated warehouse creates the “perfect storm” for muscle injury. Exertional rhabdomyolysis is often misdiagnosed as simple soreness.
If your child presents with:
- Urine that looks like iced tea
- Muscles that feel rock-hard
- Severe nausea without a fever
Do not wait. Go to the nearest Level 1 pediatric trauma center.
Our firm sits on the edge of new medical litigation. We use our active UH hazing lawsuit experts—specialists in myoglobin-induced renal tubular damage—to evaluate trampoline rhabdo cases. Most PI firms have never heard the word “rhabdomyolysis.” We are building the national map for it.
Your Path to Recovery
We litigated the BP refinery explosion. We litigate against Amazon and Walmart. We handle $10 million institutional lawsuits. The private equity sponsors behind the New Braunfels jump park industry—Palladium Equity Partners and Seidler Equity—bring nothing we haven’t beaten before.
You pay nothing upfront. Our fee is a percentage of what we win for your child. We advance all the costs of engineering, pediatric orthopedics, and accident reconstruction. Your child’s recovery fund stays intact while we fight.
Call 1-888-ATTY-911 now. Let’s get to work before the surveillance video overwrites.
Hablamos Español. Lupe Peña habla con usted directamente.
