The Larsson family remembers a beloved family member whose horrific death continues to shock people today.
On July 8, 1980, George Larsson Jr. was 19 years old and went to Action Park with friends on Route 94 in Vernon, New Jersey.
Class Action Park, a documentary about the infamous summer fun spot, was released in 2020. Filmmakers Chris Charles Scott and Seth Porges created the film, which features the Larsson family’s first comments after they settled for $100,000 and were “subject to a gag order for years,” according to NJ.com. Esther Larsson and Brian Larsson, George’s mother and brother, appear to be telling their side of the story of his untimely death.
George was riding the 2,700-foot Alpine Slide, which was navigated by small sleds capable of only accelerating and braking. The trip to the theme park was a last-minute decision.
“He wanted to go to Action Park, so I loaned him the money in the afternoon, and a friend of his went over there to meet him,” Esther tells me.
“He gets onto the Alpine Slide and descends the hillside. “And I do not think the cart break was working,” Brian says of the accident. “He veered off the track, flipping down the hillside and into some rocks.” He hit his head on the rocks.
Esther was at home when she received the call that her son had been injured. Her husband and Brian were working together when they received word that George was in the hospital.
“I did not think it was any big deal because he was so athletic,” Esther told me. “I expected scrapes, bumps, or maybe a cut, but I had no idea how bad it was.” When we arrived, he had been transferred to another hospital. I saw the bed he would been in, and there was blood all over the pillowcase and everything.”
They rushed to the other hospital, where they had their first look at George and discovered the extent of his injuries.
“When I first saw my brother, I knew he was hurt badly. I just knew it was bad. They were testing for brain waves to see if he still had them. And not just once, but obviously twice, three times, or more, to see if he was on board or not,” Brian explained.
“There was no sign that he was going to wake up,” Esther said, adding that a family member who was a doctor came to examine George independently and confirm there was nothing else they could do.
George died from his injuries on July 16, 1980. The entire family was devastated, with Esther admitting that between the rectory and the hospital, “we were walking across the street and I deliberately walked out in front of a truck.”
“At that point, my husband pulled me back and screamed, ‘What were you thinking?'” I was thinking I could not bear that kind of pain. It hurt so much. And now, 39 years later, I still feel the pain.”
It was also devastating for Brian, who was supposed to marry days later with George as his best man. He mentioned, “Everything was in a cloud.” Furthermore, Action Park’s owner, Gene Mulvihill, never contacted the family or the hospital to inquire about what happened to George after emergency services transported him out of the park.
Action Park claimed that the Alpine Slide did not cause George’s death. Rather, they claimed that the rock he came into contact with was, which could have occurred anywhere. To protect the park’s image, Mulhivill and his team claimed that George was an employee who used park equipment after hours in order to avoid reporting his death to the state.
In reality, George worked at the sister ski resort but not at Action Park. He was also available during regular business hours. Esther would later find out: “The State of New Jersey told them they could not open for the 4th of July, and they wanted to open for the 4th of July, but they never removed the rocks that they were told to remove.”
“And when my son went on that ride, the car flipped him off and his head hit the rocks,” she says, adding that his visit was only four days later.
The incident would reveal Mulhivill’s “fake liability insurance in the Cayman Islands.” As a result, the family was informed that any compensation from legal action would be minimal.
“We eventually settled for $100,000,” Esther explains. The family, traumatized by their experience, relocated from New Jersey to Florida in an attempt to heal.
George Larsson Jr. was the first to die at Action Park, but he would not be the last. From 1980 until its closure in 1996, the park was responsible for at least five additional deaths and numerous injuries. Mulhivill passed away on October 27, 2012, at the age of 78.