A former Lawrence family who nearly drowned three years ago when a ride malfunctioned at a Texas amusement park has settled a lawsuit for almost $1.5 million.

Fred and Ginny Venneberg received a $1.49 million settlement from the Six Flags Over Texas amusement park and Canyon Manufacturing, the maker of a key part of a river-raft ride that overturned while the couple and their two children were on it in March 1999.

The settlement was arranged late last month and made public Friday.

âÂÂIt is a relief to have it over with,â Ginny Venneberg said from her home in Delia, a small town northwest of Topeka. âÂÂWe felt like we were in a David vs. Goliath situation.âÂÂ

The settlement closes an episode that started when Jessica Venneberg, then a third-grader at Prairie Park School, won a math contest and received a spring-break trip to Six Flags in Arlington, Tex.

At the park, the family, including Jessica and another daughter, Ashley, went on the Roaring Rapids ride. Their raft took on water and capsized.

Jessica, strapped in her seat belt, was trapped beneath the boat. When her father pulled her from the water, she was not breathing and had to be resuscitated, said John L. Hampton, the Lawrence attorney who represented the family.

Ginny was thrown from the boat and suffered severe knee injuries. She said the settlement would help the family get back to normal but wouldnâÂÂt fix everything. She already has had four knee operations and eventually must have her knee replaced.

âÂÂI still really canâÂÂt stand or have a job where I have to be on my feet for any amount of time,â she said. âÂÂI canâÂÂt even go shopping, unless I use a wheelchair.âÂÂ

Hampton, who specializes in personal injury cases, said he was pleased with the settlement but disappointed in how long it took for the amusement company to settle.

âÂÂWeâÂÂre all upset they had to go through three years of fighting Six Flags before they came around,â Hampton said. âÂÂWe ended up settling for what we would have settled for in the very beginning.

âÂÂItâÂÂs a shame because reliving it was hard for them. Fred relived in his mind the sight of all the air coming out of Jessica and seeing her eyes roll back in her head and just knowing she was dead.âÂÂ

Don Flanary, an attorney for Six Flags over Texas, said the company settled the case as quickly as possible.

âÂÂOur position has always been that they were our guests and were injured on our property, our house, so to speak, and we always wanted to see them taken care of,â Flanary said. âÂÂSometimes it just takes longer to get to a resolution.âÂÂ

Flanary said Six Flags over Texas planned to sue Canyon Manufacturing because the amusement park believed a malfunction of an inner tube-like device manufactured by Canyon caused the accident. An attorney for Canyon did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Hampton said that although it was not a part of the settlement, he would like to see changes in the ride. Specifically, he said, the raftsâ seat belts should be removed to prevent situations like the one Jessica was caught in.

The amusement park disagreed.

âÂÂWeâÂÂve been told by experts we trust that without the seat belts the incident would have resulted in a much greater catastrophe,â Flanary said.

Jessica and Ashley, now 12 and 10 years old respectively, recovered from their injuries reasonably well, their mother said.

âÂÂTheyâÂÂre getting along pretty good,â Ginny Venneberg said. âÂÂTheyâÂÂve had some psychological damage, but theyâÂÂre doing fine. We took them to court with us. We thought it was educational for them to see how the process works.âÂÂ

The Vennebergs were the last group to reach a settlement in the accident, which killed an Arkansas woman and injured 10 people.