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A father has claimed that his local water park “publicly humiliated” his teenage daughter because of her size.

Andrew Batton, from Illinois in the United States, spoke to TV station KMOV and posted on Facebook about his visit to the Raging Rivers Waterpark with his family.

His 13-year-old daughter wanted to ride the Mississippi Monster Slide, but was unable to after speaking to staff.

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He claims a crew member asked the child to step on a scale in front of strangers because the ride had a weight limit of 200lbs (14st 2lb).

Andrew stated: “The guy looked at us and to my daughter and said, ‘You need to step on the scale’. She steps on the scale and she’s 205.”

Subsequently, the young girl was not allowed on the ride.

Andrew, who has season tickets to the park, claims there were not signs stating there was a weight limit on the slide.

He noted: “I was like, ‘There’s nothing on the media about that. Was this posted anywhere?’ [The worker] was like, ‘No. We’ve had some people getting hurt so we’re limiting the weight on the ride’.

He added that his daughter left with “tears in her eyes”, reports news.com.au.

Andrew added: “The disappointment that she felt by not being able to ride the brand-new ride was definitely overshadowed by the public humiliation of being asked to step on a scale.

“Then further than that, being told that you’re overweight.

“We as parents now have to undo the emotional damage.”

The dad also posted his anger on Facebook.

He wrote: “Let’s leave out the amazingly damaging psychological impact of forcing a young woman to publicly weigh herself, but to have to see my daughters face eyes welling up with tears as she was turned away for being FIVE POUNDS OVER!

“The employee was extremely upset as well and explained that this scene has been playing out all day and many people had been upset/surprised by the restriction …

“Raging Rivers has been such a source of joy for my daughter throughout her childhood to have such an amazingly awful experience today has saddened me beyond words as well as negativity (sic) impacted my daughter in a way that I am sure we are going to be discussing in therapy for years to come.”

Spokesman for the park, Jimmy Holmes said that new tubes had been ordered for the ride to increase the weight capacity.

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He added: “Our goal is never to embarrass anyone, but we must look out for their safety while visiting Raging Rivers.

“Raging Rivers takes an abundance of precautions to ensure the safety of our guests while enjoying our slides and attractions.

“The new Mississippi Monster Slide has a max weight of 200lbs per rider. Signage is located at the base of the slide, alerting guests of this restriction.

“In addition, there is a scale that all guests who choose to ride the attraction must step on to ensure they meet the safety requirements for the ride.

“We will continue to follow manufacturer guidelines for safety while offering our guests a fun experience at Raging Rivers Waterpark.”

Raging Rivers Waterpark was contacted by the Daily Star for comment.

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