“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.” That is the voice of Kaitlin “Kati” Hill, a mother whose three-year-old son, Colton, suffered a broken femur and was placed in a body cast after a visit to a trampoline park. As Kati told ABC News, she had no idea. Thousands of parents across the country—and right here in City of Roanoke—are in that same position today. They signed a waiver at a kiosk, handed over their hard-earned money, and watched their children walk onto a court that they assumed was safe. Within minutes, their lives changed.
If your family is currently sitting in a pediatric trauma bay or navigating the aftermath of a catastrophic fracture, you need more than just a lawyer; you need a system of accountability. At Attorney911, led by managing partner Ralph Manginello, we have spent over 25 years making corporate defendants pay for the consequences of their business decisions. We treat our clients like family, as Donald Wilcox noted when he said he got the call to “pick up this handsome check” after another firm had rejected his case. We don’t just “handle” personal injury; we dismantle the corporate structures designed to hide the money.
City of Roanoke families are surrounded by a high density of commercial jump facilities. Whether you were at the Urban Air Adventure Park in nearby Grapevine, the Altitude Trampoline Park in Fort Worth or Keller, or the newly expanded Sky Zone in Frisco, the risks are identical. These facilities operate under intense margin pressure, often cutting staff ratios and delaying maintenance to meet the demands of their private equity owners, like Palladium Equity Partners or Seidler Equity Partners. When a child is launched by a double-bounce or falls through a gap in the padding, it wasn’t an accident. It was the predictable output of a system.
Our team includes associate attorney Lupe Peña, a former insurance defense lawyer who used to represent these exact recreational businesses. He knows the “friendly adjuster” script because he once helped write it. He knows which waiver clauses are enforceable and which ones are full of holes. Because he is a native Spanish speaker, he ensures that our hablamos-español families in City of Roanoke are never marginalized by a language gap. We represent the parent at the trauma-bay bedside, and we are ready to fight for you.
The Reality of Trampoline Injuries in North Texas
Texas is a saturated market for indoor trampoline and adventure parks. In the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex specifically, an investigation by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram documented 500 injury reports across 21 parks over just seven years. In City of Roanoke, your child’s injury is part of a documented regional pattern—not an isolated freak occurrence.
Many parents in City of Roanoke assume that these facilities are regulated by the state, like a roller coaster at Six Flags. They aren’t. While the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) regulates “Class B” inflatable rides under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 2151—including bungee trampolines and the Sky Rider ziplines you see at Urban Air—the trampoline decks themselves are statutorily excluded. This regulatory gap means the only “safety rules” in place are the ones the industry wrote for itself (ASTM F2970) and whatever internal manuals the franchisors like Sky Zone Franchising LLC or UATP Management LLC choose to follow.
The numbers published in the journal Pediatrics in 2024 are staggering. Researchers tracked over 13,000 injuries from millions of jumper-hours and found that foam-pit injury rates are roughly 1.91 per 1,000 jumper-hours. Even more alarming, up to 1.6% of all pediatric emergency department trauma visits in the U.S. are now trampoline-related. When you drive down Highway 377 or I-35W to reach an emergency room like Cook Children’s or Children’s Medical Center Dallas, you are entering a trauma system that deals with “trampoline fractures” daily.
We know the medicine because we are currently litigating a $10 million lawsuit against the University of Houston involving rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure. The muscle and organ breakdown seen in that case is the same pathology we see in children who are forced to jump for extended periods in hot, poorly ventilated City of Roanoke-area parks without adequate hydration. Whether it is a shattered growth plate or a life-threatening kidney injury, we have the medical experts and the trial experience to prove your case.
Why the Waiver You Signed Does Not End Your Case
The first thing the insurance adjuster will tell you—perhaps while your child is still in surgery—is that “you signed a waiver.” They want you to believe the paper you clicked through at a kiosk or on your phone is an absolute wall. They are wrong.
In Texas, waivers are subject to the “fair notice” doctrine established in Dresser Industries, Inc. v. Page Petroleum, Inc. If a waiver is not conspicuous or fails to explicitly use the word “negligence” to describe what is being released, a Texas court can throw it out as a matter of law. Furthermore, the landmark ruling in Munoz v. II Jaz, Inc. by the Houston 14th Court of Appeals established that a parent generally cannot sign away a minor child’s personal cause of action. While the child’s parents might have waived their own rights, the child’s right to pursue compensation for their own pain, suffering, and future medical needs often remains fully intact.
Consider the case of “Max” Menchaca in Harris County. A jury awarded Max $11.485 million—including $6 million in punitive damages—against the operator of Cosmic Jump after he fell through a torn trampoline slide onto a concrete floor. Even though a waiver was signed, the jury found the park grossly negligent because management knew about the defect and did nothing. We look for those same “smoking guns” in every City of Roanoke case.
We also tackle the Delfingen doctrine. If your family is Spanish-speaking and the park presented an English-only waiver on an iPad while pressuring you to sign quickly so the kids could jump, that waiver is professionally vulnerable on formation grounds. Lupe Peña handles these bilingual-formation attacks at a native level. We don’t just read the waiver; we deconstruct the circumstances of how it was signed.
Catastrophic Accident Mechanisms: How Injuries Happen
Trampoline physics are brutal and non-negotiable. When your child enters a park in City of Roanoke, they are a piece of cargo in a high-energy environment.
The Double-Bounce Multiplyer
This is the most common mechanism of catastrophic injury. When a 200-pound adult lands on a trampoline bed just as a 60-pound child is pushing off, the energy transfer multiplies the child’s launch force by up to four times. The child isn’t jumping; they are being launched like a projectile. This leads to comminuted femoral shaft fractures and Salter-Harris growth plate injuries. ASTM F2970 specifically requires parks to separate jumpers by size and age to prevent this, but during a busy Saturday birthday party in City of Roanoke, those rules are the first to be ignored.
Foam Pit Submerged Entrapment and SCIWORA
Foam pits look soft, but they frequently harbor “dead spots” where the cubes have compacted or the pit is too shallow. Landing head-first can lead to SCIWORA—Spinal Cord Injury Without Radiographic Abnormality. A child may have a seemingly normal CT scan but suffer from progressive cord ischemia that leads to a permanent cervical injury. The International Standard EN ISO 23659:2022, which is mandatory in Europe but voluntary here, has stricter depth requirements than many U.S. parks follow. We cite these international standards to prove that the “industry standard” in North Texas is dangerously low.
Harness and Attraction Failures
Urban Air and similar adventure parks in the Roanoke area utilize Sky Rider zipline-coasters and 30-foot climbing walls. These rely on “auto-belay” systems and worker-secured harnesses. In Sugar Land, the Lakhani family’s lawsuit alleged an attendant strapped the harness but never attached the fall-protection line, leading to a 30-foot fall. We investigate these attractions for design defects and systemic training failures. If an attendant in Lewisville or Frisco was distracted or inadequately trained, the park is liable for the fall.
Exertional Rhabdomyolysis
If your child has dark, “cola-colored” urine, severe muscle pain, and vomiting 24 to 48 hours after jumping, they may be in acute kidney failure. Extended jumping sessions of 90 minutes or more in a heated, indoor environment are a major risk factor. Most park monitors are not trained to recognize the signs of heat stroke or rhabdo. Because we are already litigating one of the largest rhabdomyolysis cases in Texas history at the University of Houston, we have a “rhabdo bridge” of expertise that other personal injury firms simply do not possess.
Evidence Preservation: The 7-to-30-Day Window
The evidence of what happened to your child is evaporating right now. Most commercial parks in the DFW area use DVR surveillance systems that overwrite footage on a 7, 14, or 30-day cycle. If you wait for the park’s insurance company to “do the right thing,” the video of the incident will be gone forever.
The moment you retain us, our spoliation letter goes out by certified mail and email to the park, the franchisor, and their legal department. We demand the preservation of:
- Multi-angle surveillance footage including the 4 hours before and after the injury.
- The original incident report (and all “revised” versions with metadata).
- Attendant shift logs and training records for everyone on duty.
- Daily pre-opening inspection logs for the subject attraction.
- The literal equipment involved (torn mats, failed springs, or compacted foam).
We also perform “Wayback Machine” archaeology. We capture the specific versions of the waiver and marketing claims live on the park’s website at the time of your injury. If the park tries to “update” their waiver or safety claims retroactively to cover their tracks, we can prove what the documents actually said the day your child jumped.
The Life-Care Plan: Looking 40 Years into the Future
A “broken leg” for an eight-year-old in City of Roanoke is not just an ER bill. If the fracture involves a growth plate (Salter-Harris classification), that child will require orthopedic monitoring through skeletal maturity. They may need a corrective osteotomy at age 14 or an epiphysiodesis to equalize leg length.
We build your child’s case using a Pediatric Life-Care Plan (LCP). We retain certified life-care planners and pediatric orthopedists to project every medically necessary cost your child will face over their lifetime. We also calculate the “Cognitive-Earning Cascade.” Research shows that even a “mild” pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) can lead to academic regression, which reduces college access and permanently lowers lifelong earning capacity. We don’t just look at the cast on the leg; we look at the entire arc of your child’s future.
Our firm advances all these costs. You don’t pay for the biomechanical engineer who reconstructs the double-bounce physics or the life-care planner who projects the lifetime care needs. We take that risk for you. As client Chad Harris said, you are “not just some client,” you are family.
Why Every City of Roanoke Family Deserves a Trial Lawyer
The trampoline park industry is a multi-million-dollar corporate machine. Chains like Urban Air and Sky Zone are backed by some of the largest private equity firms in the world. They hire the same kind of corporate defense firms that Ralph Manginello fought during the BP Texas City refinery litigation. They are not intimidated by a firm that just wants to “settle quick.”
We prepare every City of Roanoke case for trial from day one. We identify the five-layer defendant stack: the local Operator LLC, the regional Franchisee, the national Franchisor (like Urban Air Franchise Holdings), the corporate Parent, and the PE Sponsor. We uncover every layer of insurance, from the primary general liability policy to the massive umbrella and excess towers totaling tens of millions of dollars.
When an insurer sees our name on a demand letter, they know they are facing a firm that has recovered millions for traumatic brain injuries, amputations, and wrongful death cases. They know Lupe Peña understands their playbook. And they know that if they don’t offer a fair settlement, we are ready to take the case to a jury in Denton County or beyond.
Frequently Asked Questions for City of Roanoke Families
How long do I have to sue a trampoline park in Texas?
In Texas, the statute of limitations for personal injury is two years from the date of the accident. However, for injuries to minors, the clock is “tolled” (paused) until their 18th birthday, giving them until age 20. But here is the critical warning: the parent’s claim for medical bills is NOT tolled—it expires in two years. And more importantly, the evidence (video, witness memories) is gone in weeks. Do not wait for the legal deadline when the evidence deadline is right now.
Can I sue if I signed the waiver at an Urban Air or Sky Zone?
Yes. Texas courts have found waivers unenforceable for multiple reasons, including gross negligence and failure of “fair notice.” For children, the case is even stronger because of Munoz v. II Jaz. If the park skipped a safety protocol to save time or money, the waiver won’t protect them.
What should I do if the park manager told me “not to call 911”?
Multiple parents at the Southlake Urban Air have reported this exact instruction. It is a tactic designed to minimize the incident and prevent professional documentation. If you suspect the park is coaching staff to downplay injuries, it is a significant indicator of gross negligence. Call 911 yourself, and call us.
Is the foam pit really dangerous?
Yes. Biomechanical studies by experts like Eager show that foam pits provide non-uniform deceleration. If a child’s head goes between cubes, they can strike the floor or suffer a neck injury. This is why most chains are switching to airbags. If your child was hurt in a foam pit at a North Texas park, it is evidence that the park was using outdated, dangerous equipment to save on a retrofit.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
Nothing upfront. We work on a 100% contingency fee basis. We advance all investigation and expert costs. You pay no fees and no expenses unless we win your case. Your child’s recovery fund stays intact.
We don’t speak English well—can you still help us?
Sí, podemos. Lupe Peña es nuestra abogada bilingüe. Antes de unirse a nuestro bufete, ella representaba a las compañías de seguros. Ahora usa ese conocimiento para las familias del City of Roanoke. Ella habla directamente con usted, sin intérpretes.
The Clock is Running on Your Child’s Case
The decisions you make in the next 24 to 72 hours will determine the outcome of your family’s legal journey. While the trampoline park’s risk management team is already busy “revising” incident reports and waiting for the DVR to overwrite your child’s accident, we are ready to deploy a counter-offensive.
We represent families. We represent children. We represent the parent who stayed up all night in a hospital lobby because a business decided that a 1:60 attendant ratio was “good enough” for a Saturday. We have the federal court experience, the medical knowledge from our $10 million rhabdo litigation, and the insider perspective from a former defense attorney. We are built for exactly this fight.
What happened at that park wasn’t just “part of the game.” It was a breach of duty.
Call 1-888-ATTY-911 today. Available 24/7. Hablamos Español. No fee unless we win.
What is fair compensation for your child’s pain and suffering? How do insurance companies calculate the value of a shattered growth plate or a brain injury? Learn more in our ultimate guides to settlements and brain injury lawsuits on our YouTube channel. Then, let us build your case. Your journey to accountability starts with one phone call.
The Manginello Law Firm — Attorney911
1177 West Loop S, Suite 1600, Houston, TX 77027
316 West 12th Street, Suite 311, Austin, TX 78701
Available for meetings in City of Roanoke and Beaumont.
1-888-ATTY-911
