After investigating the death of a 29-year-old woman and severe injuries in two other consumers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled 21,000 inflatable Banzai in-ground pool water slides.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Toys R Us, Inc., have agreed to offer full refunds for the slides that are returned to them.
The CPSC determined that the slides were defective and could deflate suddenly, allowing the user to crash to the ground. The commission also found that the slide is unstable and can topple over in both still and windy conditions.
At the heart of the investigation was the death of Robin Aleo, a Colorado mom who had been visiting relatives in Andover, Mass. During a pool party on July 29, 2006, Aleo, the mother of an 18-month-old girl, climbed to the top of the 6-foot-high Banzai Falls slide and then started sliding down head first, according to a report in the Merrimack Valley Eagle-Tribune.
As Aleo neared the bottom, the slide deflated and she struck her head on the edge of the pool. Her neck was broken and she was paralyzed and unable to breathe, according to the Eagle-Tribune. She died the following day at a Boston hospital.
