Alaina Urquhart

In order to reject that supposed coddling, Eugene embraced risk as part of his brand.

Which is, this is a nightmare to me.

Yeah, like what?

He wasn't embracing his risk, he was embracing other people's risk.

Is that even allowed when you own an amusement park?

Well, rather than strap riders into the boat on a wave pool, visitors would simply have to cling to the raft, lest they be thrown from the boat.

Likewise, riders on an alpine slide-style ride weren't confined to a track.

They could control the speed of their car and its brakes.

Of course, with a guiding principle based on increased risk rather than safety and family fun, it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt.

Andy said it was not long before our visitors reworked our advertising to better reflect their experience.

That new informal slogan, Action Park, where you're the center of the accident.

The first serious accident came in 1980, just two years into the park's operation.

In July, 19-year-old George Larson was riding the alpine sled ride at the park when about halfway down the slide, he was thrown from the car he was riding in, rolled down an embankment to landing 25 feet away and smashing his head on a rock in the ground.

Oh my God.

When emergency crews arrived a short time later, Larson was unconscious and soon he lapsed into a coma.

He died a few days later on July 16th.

George Larson's family and friends contend that the lax safety protocols at the park were entirely responsible for George's death.

But Mulvihill, an Action Park spokespeople, saw it a different way.

Spokesperson Wesley Smith told reporters, this is an action park where people are doing physical things to themselves.

Their situation is not totally in our control.