You would think that the simple act of hiring a bouncy castle for your child’s birthday party was a great idea to keep the kids happy and entertained for an afternoon. Afterall, keep kids these days occupied is not aneasy thing unless there is a Nintendo Wii or Xbox involved somewhere.

In the UK one couple discovered that doing such a thing has cost them a fortune and the circumstances are quite sad. They hired a bouncy castle – one of those big inflatable things that the kids jump around in – for a day for their child’s birthday party. The kids were all in the 10/11 years old age group so were old enough to enjoy the fun of it.

Things were fine until the host parents took their attention away from the kids and allowed a much bigger 15 year old boy to enter the structure and jump around with the much smaller and younger children. The teenager got a bit rough and reckless; in the process he accidentally kicked an eleven year old boy in the head causing him permanent brain damage. The boy now requires 24 hour round the clock nursing and will so for the rest of his life.

All because of a simple and seemingly harmless childrens attraction. The host parents have been sued successfully for £1 million by the boys parents. They were found to have provided inadequate supervision. Personally I do not like these things; my own son was injured on one when he was seven years old and a larger, rougher boy jumped on his arm. He required x-rays and was in a lot of pain.

Fortunately, for the host parents, they had purchased accident insurance which will cover the claim but if one thing comes out of this case it is this – supervision is imperative.