Main Event in Hoffman Estates shuts down ropes course after child injured
A Hoffman Estates family entertainment center temporarily shut down its "gravity ropes" course after a child was injured in a fall Sunday and taken to a hospital.
"Our thoughts are first and foremost with our guest, who was injured on the gravity ropes course," Steve Jackson, district manager for Main Event Entertainment, said in a statement Monday.
"Safety is our top priority at Main Event and we are investigating this incident thoroughly. In the meantime, we have temporarily shut down the course as an added precaution."
The accident happened about 3:26 p.m. Sunday at Main Event, 2575 Pratum Ave., authorities said. Hoffman Estates Fire Chief Patrick Fortunato said Monday he had no further details to share about the accident or the condition of the child.
The gravity ropes course allows patrons to walk above ground and navigate obstacles while wearing a harness hooked to an overhead zip line. Participants must be at least 48 inches tall to use the course, the entertainment center's website says.
The Hoffman Estates injury came five days after a 7-year-old Glen Ellyn boy died following an accident at My Gym, a children's gym in Wheaton. That gym reopened Monday without the space flight, the activity on which the accident occurred. Wheaton police described it as "a miniature zip line equipment."
Children under 10 years old comprised about half the nearly 17,000 zip line injuries treated in emergency rooms from 1997 to 2012, according to a 2015 study cited by healthychildren.org, a website from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Another 33 percent involved children ages 10 to 19, and most of those injuries took place in the last four years, the study noted.
The academy doesn't have policy statement on zip lines but provides recommendations and safety precautions, including wearing a helmet, harness and gloves; training operators; inspecting and maintaining equipment regularly; and posting rules and requiring participants to follow them.
• Daily Herald staff writer Katlyn Smith contributed to this report.