The final moments of Jason Greenwood’s life are described as chaotic in the B.C. Coroner’s report that concluded his death at a Richmond trampoline park was an accident.
At 7 p.m. on Jan. 20, 2018, Greenwood’s fatal jump and the subsequent events at Extreme Air Park were captured on a family camera and also on the park’s video surveillance.
Greenwood’s partner and children were there to experience the tragedy.
The video shows “Greenwood ran up a short ramp which led to a trampoline, and that he jumped off the trampoline by doing a forward flip and landed in the foam pit head first,” the report noted. “When Greenwood did not surface from beneath the foam his family jumped in the pit and attempted to dig through the foam to locate him.”
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He was found upside down with his feet above his body. The bottom of the 4.5-foot deep foam pit is another trampoline surface. There was a debate as to whether or not to remove him from the pit. The initial scene was chaotic with a dozen or more people in and out of the foam pit and people still playing nearby, unaware of the tragedy unfolding.
Even with staff and bystanders removing as much foam from the pit as possible for an easier extraction, it was 21 minutes by the time Richmond firefighters were able to extract him. He was in cardiac arrest and resuscitation efforts were made.
Greenwood was transported by ambulance to Vancouver General Hospital where he was diagnosed with a cervical spine injury that stopped his breathing and caused “severe hypoxic ischemic brain injury.”
In July, Technical Safety BC made a recommendation to the province that trampoline parks be regulated and the coroner agreed. The report noted none of the three staff on hand that day were trained in First Aid or CPR and that a “more timely medical aid response with respiratory support may have prevented a fatal outcome.”
