Water Ride At Theme Park Gave Man Eye-Eating Parasites, Lawsuit Claims

A Pennsylvania man is suing a Pittsburgh amusement park after alleging that one of its water rides gave him an eye-eating parasite.

Robert Trostle claimed that while riding Kennywood Park’s Raging Rapids Jul. 2, some of the water splashed in his left eye, and that he later contracted an eye-eating parasite from the water according to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Wednesday.

The lawsuit said that Trostle and his wife noticed the water at the ride was “dirty, stagnant and sludge-like. Additionally, the Trostles said they noticed that the waterfall was not operating.

Trostle alleged that over the next few days after visiting the park his eye was irritated and swollen and on Jul. 5, he was diagnosed with acute conjunctivitis. Trostle then claimed that his condition worsened and on Jul. 14 he was diagnosed with microsporidia keratitis. The lawsuit describes microsporidia as a “harmful parasite that eats away at the cornea of the eye,” and claimed that the splashed water gave him the parasite.

The complaint said Trostle had to endure “an extremely painful surgery where the parasite was scraped out of the eye with a surgical scalpel, and he was required to remain in a dark room for the next two days,” and that the surgery didn’t fully remove the parasite, leaving Trostle with lasting damage to his vision.

The lawsuit was filed in court Tuesday. Trostle sought $35,000 in damages, according to WRC-TV.

“Safety is the top priority of everything we do, and that certainly extends to maintenance of the rides and water in the rides,” said Nick Paradise, a spokesman for Kennywood, to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Paradise said he could not speak about ongoing litigation.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 15 microsporidian species that are harmful to humans and cause a wide variety of health problems.