A pair of drunken ‘idiots’ who broke their legs after sneaking into a waterpark and crashing into the barrier of a closed flume tube have said they may sue the park’s owners.
Mum-of-five Claire Vickers, 46, and friend Barry Douglas, 44, suffered broken shins and shattered feet after pulling their 2am stunt at the Aldershot Lido in Hampshire last month.
But the duo found themselves in A&E after hurtling down the water slide and slamming into a steel barrier that was blocking the end.
Both appearing in wheelchairs on ITV’s This Morning, Mr Douglas told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that the park was too easy to get into and they may take ‘legal action’ as a result of their injuries.
Ms Vickers said she nearly entered the tube head-first before changing her mind. ‘I wouldn’t be here,’ she said.
Claire Vickers, 46, and her pal Barry Douglas, 44, suffered broken shins and shattered feet after pulling their stunt at the Aldershot Lido in Hampshire
The pair rushed down one of the flumes tubes at 2am without realising it was blocked by a barrier at the end
Claire Vickers suffered broken bones in her foot and her shin bone was also snapped in the accident
Ms Vickers had spent four hours at the pub that day, before meeting Mr Douglas at his home to continue her drinking session.
While intoxicated, the pair decided to wander over to the lido for a dip in the pool.
They wriggled their way under a fence and Ms Vickers poured water from a foot bath down the water slide, which was dry.
As she sat down, Mr Douglas put his legs round her to slide together. It wasn’t until they were rushing down the tube at speed that they spotted the barrier.
They slammed into it feet-first, breaking their bones and being left in agony for three and a half hours until they were rescued.
Asked by the hosts what they were doing at the lido, Ms Vickers told This Morning: ‘Everybody does it, I’ve been doing it since I was about 20.
‘That night I didn’t plan to go out and do this, it just happened… I just think something should be done about it.’
Mr Douglas added: ‘The chains were unlocked to walk up the steps. So we’ve got the bottom chain unlocked, the top chain unlocked and we’ve got the slide – and that was open.’
Gran-of-two Ms Vickers is awaiting physiotherapy as her journey to recovery begins
He admitted that he had been skinny-dipping in the pool before climbing the steps up to the slide.
Host Schofield asked him: ‘So you are going down the slide naked?’
‘Yes I am, 100%,’ Mr Douglas replied.
The pair described a ‘solid barrier of steel’ at the end of the flumes tube.
The pair told ITV’s This Morning that ‘legal action’ may be taken over the incident at the water park
The Aldershot Lido is a popular leisure resort and boasts the biggest outdoor swimming pool in Hampshire
Mrs Vickers said: ‘As we were coming down the actual shoot, when you come out where the water is supposed to slow you down, there was a block.
‘As soon as I hit the bottom, I broke my leg straight in half. [The bone] was totally out and I was holding on to my leg.’
Regarding her other leg, Ms Vickers added: ‘I shattered every bone in that foot.’
Mr Douglas broke both ankles and his left tibula. He passed out from the pain but revived when police came to rescue the pair some three and a half hours later.
He criticised the security at the Aldershot Lido.
Mr Douglas said: ‘They should have security though, for a start. The fence should be secured and there might be a legal action being taken.’
Ms Vickers added: ‘I just think that everybody has made a mistake. Everybody has got drunk at some point in their life and made a silly choice. That’s what this was.’
Ms Vickers, a former bartender, in an earlier interview, had said: ‘We’re idiots – let that be a lesson.’
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