“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 Kaitlin Hill, the mother of three-year-old Colton, telling ABC News about the day a trampoline park shattered her son’s femur. Her warning was shared 240,000 times on social media. We read it. We suspect you are reading this because you have heard that same scream, perhaps at an Urban Air or a Sky Zone here in Dallas.
One bounce. One bad landing. One life-altering injury. That is the reality of the trampoline park industry in North Texas. Whether you were at a birthday party at the Urban Air near NorthPark Center, a team event at the Altitude off the Dallasside of the President George Bush Turnpike, or a Saturday jump session at the Sky Zone in Irving, the system remains the same. You signed a waiver at a kiosk while your child pulled at your arm, eager to jump. You handed over your credit card and received a pair of grip socks. Twenty minutes later, your family’s life changed forever.
We are Attorney911. For over twenty-five years, Ralph Manginello and our legal team have fought for the victims of catastrophic injuries across Dallas and the United States. We have gone head-to-head with some of the largest corporations in the world, including BP, Walmart, and Amazon. The parent conglomerates behind the big trampoline park chains—like Sky Zone, Inc., backed by Palladium Equity Partners, and Unleashed Brands, the parent of Urban Air—hire massive corporate defense firms to protect their bottom lines. That does not intimidate us. We have already beaten those firms in federal courts and state trials.
Our firm includes an attorney, Lupe Peña, who used to sit on the other side of the table. He defended recreational businesses and insurance companies against these exact claims. He knows which waiver clauses are full of holes and which insurance adjusters are following a script designed to trick you. Hablamos Español. Our team represents Dallas families directly—no interpreters, no delays, and no upfront costs.
What happened to your child in that foam pit or on that dodgeball court was not an act of God. It was the predictable output of a business model that prioritizes throughput and margin over pediatric safety. We do not argue this; we establish it through evidence.
The Systematic Failure of Dallas Trampoline Parks
Dallas is a saturated market for indoor adventure parks. Between the 17 Urban Air locations across the DFW metro and the multiple Altitude and Sky Zone facilities, thousands of children are airborne every single weekend. The industry wants you to believe these injuries are “freak accidents.” The data says otherwise.
According to a study published in Pediatrics (Teague et al., January 2024), there were 13,256 documented injuries across 8.4 million jumper-hours. The rate for foam pits and inflatable bags is 1.91 per 1,000 jumper-hours. For high-performance jumping, it climbs to 2.11. In a city like Dallas, where weekend attendance at major parks can reach hundreds of jumpers per hour, a serious injury is a statistical certainty.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has formally advised against recreational trampoline use since 1999. They reaffirmed this in 2012 and 2019. Despite twenty-six years of medical consensus that these devices are inherently dangerous for children, national chains continue to market “Toddler Time” to parents of three-year-olds. They ignore the science of pediatric bone development for the sake of birthday party revenue.
The Physics of the Double-Bounce
The most common mechanism of injury we see in Dallas trampoline parks is the “double-bounce.” When a 200-pound adult or a 150-pound teenager lands on a trampoline bed just as a 50-pound child is pushing off, the energy transfer is catastrophic. The child does not just jump; they are launched with a force multiplied by up to 4x.
ASTM F2970 is the safety standard for commercial trampoline courts. It was written by the industry itself. It requires parks to operationalize age and weight separation. Walk into any trampoline park near the Dallas North Tollway on a Saturday afternoon and count the number of times you see a teenager and a small child on the same court. If the park chooses to ignore its own safety floor to keep the lines moving, they are accepting the risk of your child’s broken leg.
We represent families whose children have suffered comminuted femoral shaft fractures and Salter-Harris growth plate injuries because an attendant was looking at a phone instead of enforcing weight-class rules. A Salter-Harris fracture at age nine is not just a “broken bone.” It is a decade of orthopedic monitoring and the potential for a leg that will never grow straight.
Learn more in our video guide: “What Is Fair Compensation for Pain and Suffering?” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG07vbB4cdU.
Why the Waiver Is Not a Wall
The first thing the insurance adjuster will tell you when they call your Dallas home is that you signed a waiver. They want you to believe that the iPad screen you clicked through at the front desk ended your right to seek justice. They are wrong.
In Texas, the law regarding waivers is nuanced, but it is heavily weighted in favor of protecting children. Under the landmark ruling in Munoz v. II Jaz, Inc. (1993), a parent cannot bind a minor child to a pre-injury waiver of the child’s personal injury claim. While the Texas Supreme Court’s recent decision in Cerna v. Pearland Urban Air (2025) has made arbitration delegation clauses harder to fight for adults, the fundamental right of a child to seek recovery for the park’s negligence remains a primary attack vector for our firm.
Furthermore, no waiver in Texas can release a party from gross negligence. In Harris County, just down the road from our main office, a jury awarded $11.485 million against Cosmic Jump after a 16-year-old fell through a torn trampoline slide onto concrete. The park knew the slide was torn. They left it in service anyway. The jury found gross negligence, rendering the waiver useless.
If your family’s primary language is Spanish and you were presented with an English-only kiosk waiver without an explanation or translation, the Delfingen US-Texas v. Valenzuela doctrine may invalidate the agreement entirely. We know how to challenge these “contracts” because Lupe Peña used to defend them. We know the holes in their logic.
Our spoliation letter is already drafted. It goes out within 24 hours of your retention. Call 1-888-ATTY-911.
The Secret Danger: Foam Pits and Spinal Injuries
Foam pits are marketed as “soft landings.” They are often the most dangerous attraction in the building. As documented by Eager (2012) and the American Journal of Roentgenology (2024), foam pits carry a high risk of cervical spine injuries, including SCIWORA (Spinal Cord Injury Without Radiographic Abnormality).
When a child dives head-first into a pit where the foam has not been rotated or where the depth has compressed below the ASTM F2970 specification, the head stops while the body’s momentum continues. This axial loading causes the neck to snap. We have seen cases of vertebral artery dissection—essentially a spinal-cord stroke—initially misdiagnosed as “panic attacks” at the ER.
The viral case of Elle Yona, which received 27 million views on TikTok, involved this exact mechanism. She was a teenager doing flips into a foam pit who ended up with C4 incomplete quadriplegia. If your child had a “normal” CT scan at a Dallas emergency room but is still complaining of neck pain or weakness, you need a second opinion and a lawyer who understands the medicine of the spine.
Who is Really Responsible? The 5-Layer Stack
When we file a lawsuit for a trampoline injury in Dallas, we don’t just sue the local “Urban Air” or “Sky Zone” entity. We trace the money. The industry uses a layered corporate structure to shield assets:
- The Operator LLC: Usually a single-location entity with a $1 million policy.
- The Franchisee: A larger holding company that may own several regional parks.
- The Franchisor: Sky Zone Franchising LLC or UATP Management LLC. They dictate the safety manuals but claim “they don’t control daily operations” when someone gets hurt.
- The Brand Parent: Sky Zone, Inc. (owned by Palladium Equity) or Unleashed Brands (owned by Seidler Equity).
- The Manufacturer: The company that built the defective net, the unpadded frame, or the harness that failed.
In the case of Damion Collins v. Urban Air Overland Park, a Kansas arbitrator awarded $15.6 million for a paralysis injury. The franchisor, UATP Management, was held responsible for 40% of that award because of a “systemic failure” to implement safety changes. We use that same blueprint to pierce the corporate shields of Dallas operators.
24/7 Urgency: The Evidence Destruction Clock
The most important advice we can give a parent in Dallas is this: The clock is running.
Trampoline park surveillance systems are typically set to overwrite every 7 to 30 days. The incident report you filled out at the park? It exists on a computer system where “revisions” are common. We have seen cases where the original report admitted a monitor was on their phone, but the “finalized” version 48 hours later claimed the child was at fault.
We use forensic digital tools to pull metadata and document version histories. We subpoena the DVR hard drives before they can be wiped. If a Dallas park tells us the video is “unavailable,” our response is a spoliation motion for sanctions. A Georgia jury recently awarded $3.5 million to Mathew Knight in a case where the park’s surveillance conveniently “glitched” on four different cameras at the moment of the injury.
By Day 10, the video of your child’s accident may be gone forever. Call 1-888-ATTY-911 today.
Catastrophic Pediatric Injuries: The Lifetime Cost
If your child is currently at Children’s Medical Center Dallas or Cook Children’s, you are likely focused on the next surgery. Our job is to focus on the next sixty years.
A catastrophic injury in a child involves a different damages math than an adult case. We build a Pediatric Life-Care Plan using the same experts we utilize for our $10 million University of Houston rhabdomyolysis litigation. We look at:
- Future Surgeries: Hardware removal, corrective osteotomies, and gait equalization.
- Special Education: Accommodations for academic regression following a TBI.
- Lost Earning Capacity: Calculating what a child would have earned in the Dallas market over a lifetime.
- Attendant Care: The cost of help for a child with a permanent spinal injury.
Many firms handle these cases like a simple slip-and-fall. We don’t. We advance every dollar for the biomechanical engineers and pediatric neurologists needed to prove the life-long impact on your child.
Frequently Asked Questions for Dallas Families
Can I sue if I signed the paper waiver at the Urban Air in Dallas?
Yes. Texas law under Munoz v. II Jaz generally prevents a parent from waiving a minor’s right to sue for personal injuries. Additionally, no waiver covers “gross negligence.” If the park violated ASTM F2970 standards by understaffing or using broken equipment, the waiver is likely invalid as a defense.
How long do I have to file a claim in Dallas?
The Texas statute of limitations is two years from the date of the injury. However, for minors, the clock is tolled until their 18th birthday. This gives the child until age 20 to file. Do not wait this long. The evidence, specifically the video footage and employee witness statements, will disappear within weeks.
They offered to pay for our ER visit if I sign a “Med-Pay” form. Should I?
No. This is a tactic designed to close your case for a few thousand dollars. Many of these forms contain broad release language that settles your entire claim. Most catastrophic injuries in Dallas trampoline parks cost hundreds of thousands—if not millions—over a lifetime. Never sign an insurance release without our team reviewing it first.
What is “rhabdo” and how is it related to trampolines?
Exertional rhabdomyolysis occurs when extreme physical effort causes muscle tissue to rupture and leak myoglobin into the blood, leading to kidney failure. We see this in children who jump for 90-120 minutes in hot, indoor Dallas parks without proper hydration. If your child has coca-cola colored urine or extreme muscle swelling after a park visit, go to the emergency room immediately.
Why is no staff stopping bigger kids from jumping with my toddler?
Because it is more profitable to pack the courts than to enforce ASTM F2970 age-separation rules. This is a business decision made by the Dallas operator. When a teenager double-bounces a toddler, the force is enough to snap a femur. This is evidence of negligence we use to hold the park accountable.
Is the Dallas park’s insurance going to cover my child’s medical bills?
The park’s primary commercial general liability (CGL) policy usually has a limit of $1 million. For a catastrophic injury, that is the floor, not the ceiling. We perform corporate archeology to find the umbrella and excess layers held by the franchisor and the private equity owners. We find every dollar available to pay for your child’s care.
My teenager signed the waiver themselves. Is that even legal?
In Texas, a minor does not have the legal capacity to enter into a contract that waives their own tort rights. If a Dallas park allowed your teen to jump without your signature, the waiver they signed is a legal nullity. It will not stand up in court.
Does it cost anything to hire Attorney911?
No. We work on a contingency fee basis. We pay for the private investigators to go to the park, the experts to analyze the foam pit, and the filing fees at the Dallas County courthouse. You pay nothing unless we win your case.
Why Dallas Families Choose Attorney911
We represent families. We represent children. We represent the parent who stayed up until 3:00 AM researching “Salter-Harris fracture growth arrest” because they are scared for their child’s future.
As client Chad Harris said about our firm, “You are NOT just some client… You are FAMILY to them.” We treat your child’s recovery fund like it belongs to our own family. We don’t take the easy settlement that covers the current bills but leaves the family bare for the future correction surgeries. We fight for the maximum recovery permitted by Texas law.
We currently litigate a $10 million lawsuit against a major university involving rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure—the same catastrophic muscle and organ breakdown seen in Dallas trampoline parks. We know the expert nephrologists. We know how to document the myoglobin cascade. We know how to win.
Ralph Manginello brings federal court experience and a 25-year track record of making Fortune 500 companies pay for their negligence. Lupe Peña brings the insider playbook from the insurance defense world. Together, we provide a structural advantage the park’s lawyers cannot match.
If Your Child Has Been Injured in Dallas
If your child was injured at an Urban Air, Sky Zone, Altitude, or any independent park in Dallas County, the most important thing you can do is preserve the evidence.
Call 1-888-ATTY-911. We answer 24/7. Hablamos Español. No fee unless we win.
Our spoliation letter goes out to the park’s registered agent and the franchisor’s general counsel within 24 hours of your call. We will coordinate the biomechanical inspection of the attraction before they “refresh” the foam pit. We will subpoena the time-clock records to see if the teenager watching the court was working a double shift in violation of labor laws.
You signed the waiver because the line was long. You let them jump because you wanted them to have fun. None of that puts them in that hospital bed. The park’s choices did. Let us hold them accountable.
1-888-ATTY-911
Attorney911 / The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC
Houston · Austin · Beaumont · Dallas
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