On Saturday, JFRD told First Coast News that a number of patrons at the Adventure Landing water park were transported to the hospital with breathing problems after possibly inhaling chlorine.
On Sunday, a Jacksonville woman is demanding answers after she says those chemicals sent her to the hospital with a bill well into the thousands of dollars.
The woman asked that we not identify her, but says she was the one who first noticed there was a problem. She tells us she was pulling her husband in a float in the lazy river and suddenly became overwhelmed by fumes. She says the smell was like a chlorine tablet you might put in a pool but a lot stronger. She says it didn't take long before she was struggling to breathe.
"I could feel it going into my lungs, inhaled it through my nose and I could just feel it burning," she said. "The public needs to be made aware that things have got to change, you have kids there. Public safety is not a joke."
She says she also believes the water left bleached looking discoloration spots on her bathing suit, as she says they weren't there before getting into the lazy river.
We have made several attempts to reach Adventure Landing officials and have not heard back yet. On Saturday, we were told by an Adventure Landing employee that the park was only closed because of a storm, and that there was "not really" an incident.
Natalie Dunlap, vice president of marketing for Adventure Landing, released the following statement to First Coast News on Sunday evening:
At 1:50 p.m. on Saturday, managers were notified by three guests that there was a strong odor coming from the lazy river and it was causing them respiratory issues. Two guests were taken by ambulance and at this time we have not heard from either guests on the level of irritation caused by what we discovered to be an isolated chemical imbalance. Automated levers release chemicals, however, yesterday too many chemicals were released at once.
In addition, weather alerts came in at 2 p.m. showing lightening touch-downs within 3 miles. Protocol is to shut the water park for 20 minutes and then confirm it is safe to reopen. The water park closing due to weather-related issues did not have to do with the chemical imbalance issue. Prior to 3 p.m., the water park was reopened and all chemical levels were approved for safe swimming."