On Saturday, one woman had the fright of her life. Recounting her panicked episode at City Square Mall’s newly opened suspended net playground Airzone, she described it as a “nasty experience”.
Vivien Low’s video — which showed a couple of individuals completely submerged in the ball pit, with their hands waving in the air and their heads emerging from time to time — subsequently went viral on the Facebook page of her parenting blog, which she runs with her husband, John.
Apparently, the 1.72m-tall mother had stepped into the ball pit with her son, despite her fear of heights, thinking it was the safest place in the playground. Unfortunately, she soon lost her balance and fell backwards. Unable to stand back up, she panicked and yelled for help, but didn’t receive any.
Finally, she was able to stabilize herself when she grabbed someone’s hand. After that, she yanked her son out, along with two other kids aged six to eight, who looked like they had gone into the ball pit alone.
But the overall message of Vivien’s post wasn’t to point fingers and play the blame game — it was more to surface the possible dangers and to appeal for parents to supervise their kids in the pit.
In response, Airzone thanked Vivien for bringing the situation to its attention, and stated that it would conduct a safety review to ensure the swift response of its first aid-trained staff.
After the initial (over)reaction of several netizens, John responded to comments by affirming Airzone for its commendable safety standards, and explained that his kid had a great time when they returned. He also quipped that Airzone was “the best place” for anyone who wanted to “experience what it feels like to drown in a safe manner”.
Airzone reiterated the fact that “it’s impossible to drown in the pit”, as the 7cm balls “create an extremely porous pit” and are “too big to fill your nose or mouth”. The operator also joked that it was thinking of renaming the attraction to Quicksand Pit, at the recommendation of one of its seven-year-old regulars.
All in all, classy responses from both sides.
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