ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A mother is calling for change after her disabled son was kicked off a go-kart ride at Adventure Landing in St. Augustine on Saturday.
Katrina Padilla reached out to News4Jax after she and her 17-year-old son, Darrion, were embarrassed by a worker at the theme park.
Darrion has a rare brain disorder that has resulted in the teen having cerebral palsy.
The day was supposed to be a fun and exciting celebration for a relative's birthday, with part of the package including bracelets to ride the go-karts.
Padilla said Darrion would hit the brakes a few times while driving the go-kart.
"I was driving next to him the whole time, and had to remind him, 'Darrion pull your leg back up,' and then we'd be taking off again," Padilla said. "For some reason, he didn't even make it around half of a lap and they disabled his go kart."
An attendant told Padilla his go-kart was disabled because he wasn't doing a good job.
Padilla said Darrion didn't bump anybody, or run into the wall while driving.
She said what was more crushing was how disheartened Darrion was.
"So he finally agreed to go, and I feel like all they did is prove to him, you're right, you can't do anything, and it's heartbreaking," Padilla said.
News4Jax reached out to Adventure Landing to find out why Darrion was taken off the ride.
A vice president said, "Guest safety and the general well-being of our guests is our main concern and takes priority over anything else. At Adventure Landing, we understand sometimes guests may not agree with decisions we make; however, when there are concerns, we must act accordingly to ensure the safety of our patrons."
Padilla was given the same response when she called the theme park and is calling for change.
"I asked them, 'Why don't you have a sign that says no disabled people, allowed then?'" Padilla questioned. "Or, if you can't get off the cart on your own, you can't get in, something."
Adventure Landing has not said whether it will update its signs to reflect those changes.
Padilla hopes, if anything, attendants will be more vigilant and learn from the incident.