WARNING: this story contains graphic description of a physical injury.
PINE FALLS -- A Manitoba man is speaking out about a gruesome cut he suffered during a family swimming trip.
Zachary Thomas of Sagkeeng First Nation had emergency surgery after he got hurt on a hotel waterslide in Winnipeg.
On Tuesday, Canad Inns said it’s reviewing the incident to determine if any changes are needed.
Thomas, 27, has been hurt before; however, he said nothing has been as painful as the injury he suffered during what was supposed to be a fun family outing.
"Out of one to 10, it was about an eight, at first,” said Thomas as he described the pain. “Until I got to the hospital, and it was about a 10."
Underneath the bandage, which is wrapped around the lower part of his right leg, Thomas has multiple stitches.
Last Wednesday, he had emergency surgery to repair a severed Achilles tendon.
Thomas said he sliced open the back of his ankle and cut the tendon while at the top of a waterslide before he started to go down.
He had to have emergency surgery to repair a severed Achilles tendon.
"As I was going down I went head first, and I guess when I stepped into the pool my heel came back and clipped the entrance of where the water comes out,” said Thomas. “I cut my Achilles tendon.”
“As I was going down the slide, I didn't feel pain until I went around the second loop,” he said. “Then I started feeling pain and I grabbed my ankle."
"I saw a hole through my ankle, pretty much,” said Thomas. “There was a loonie-sized hole."
When Thomas got to the bottom of the waterslide, his girlfriend, Dineen Jones, helped bandage the wound and take him to Victoria General Hospital.
"I saw all the blood, and it was gory," said Jones.
Thomas had surgery on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at Concordia Hospital before returning home to Sagkeeng on Friday.
The couple now has questions about the safety of the waterslide.
"Going into a pool, you think everything's safe to begin with,” said Jones. “Unfortunately, it wasn't.; there was obviously a sharp thing at the bottom where he cut his Achilles tendon."
Thomas said hotel staff members were sympathetic and helpful when the injury happened.
He's speaking out so other sliders don't suffer the same fate he did.
"I don't want anybody else to get hurt,” said Thomas. “That's the main thing; I don't want to see anybody else get hurt, especially a child."
Thomas said the injury happened at Canad Inns Fort Garry hotel.
In an email to CTV News, Canad Inns vice-president of corporate identity and community relations, Cindy Carswell, said the hotel has never had a “significant incident of this nature before.”
“We have clear signage providing direction on how to safely use the waterslides,” wrote Carswell.
She said the cautionary and warning signs include both text and images explaining that all swimmers must slide feet-first.
Carswell said Canad Inns also has third party inspections and maintenance done on its slides.
“We truly regret this incident occurred and are looking further into the matter, which will include a review of our security video footage," Carswell wrote. “Should corrective action be required, we will certainly undertake it.”
On Thursday morning, Canad Inns closed their slide.
