A bounce house with a 9-year-old child inside was lifted off the ground on Saturday by heavy winds in Adelanto, California. The giant inflatable blew across the street onto a major highway, striking a car before coming to a stop.
The child rolled out of the bounce house before it struck the car, but landed in the middle of the busy highway. He was transported to the hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the car was shaken up but otherwise unharmed.
Sgt. Marc Bracco of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department told the Los Angeles Times that he has never seen something like this, calling it a "freak accident."
The parents had rented the bounce house for a family party with around 30 guests. They said that it was secured to the ground, but police did not say how it was secured or if it was done properly. Bracco said that he advises people who rent giant inflatables to use concrete buckets or five-gallon water jugs in addition to the metal stakes, to secure the houses to the ground.
"Once those stakes rip out of the ground, that stuff starts moving," he said.