The safety of a playground on the New South Wales south coast is being questioned by parents after reports of dozens of major injuries, from facial fractures and broken bones to burnt skin.
The all-ages Boongaree Nature Play Park at Berry opened in January.
Local Tisha Fleming said she was worried about the giant slide at the site after her four-year-old daughter broke both her legs while sliding tandem with her father.
"They both fell back and her legs flipped up in the air from the speed and her sandals hit the roof," she said.
"Her legs hyperextended, breaking her two tibias.
Dozens of similar stories
Ms Fleming said while she was aware accidents often happened at playgrounds, she was overwhelmed with similar stories of serious injuries after discussing her daughter's incident with friends and family.
"We had pretty much every single person that we spoke to mention that they knew someone that had broken a bone or had hurt themselves ... that this slide was crazy," she said.
A post about her daughter's injury on Facebook subsequently attracted hundreds of comments from equally concerned parents.
"My 11yr old was injured on the same slide," one mother wrote.
"He is now under the care of Westmead Children's hospital awaiting surgery to fix a facial fracture and repair teeth that have been dislodged from their socket."
"My little boy also broke his tibia the exact same way," another posted.
'There's something wrong'
Ms Fleming said she received reports of 30 major accidents across the park.
"When it comes to the slide, I've got two tail bone incidents, a facial fracture, five people have broken their legs, a cracked head, two have burnt their skin, black eye, dislocated knee, two twisted ankles, two head injuries, knee to face, broken wrist and sprained knee," she said.
Ms Fleming is now calling for the slide's safety to be reviewed and for clear signage, with height and age recommendations, to be erected at the popular park.
"I still love the park, it's beautiful … just some indication would help parents know what to do," she said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Shoalhaven Council said it was incumbent on parents and carers to supervise children but that it would assess the safety of the facility.
"As with all playgrounds, Council strongly encourages visitors to use the park's play equipment with reasonable care and for minors to be continuously and actively supervised by their parents or guardians," they said.
"Given the recent community concern, Council will be working with KidsSafe Australia to undertake an independent assessment of the facility."
