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The New Zealanders who invented the plastic ride known as the "Zorb" are battling for their reputation in North America after a counterfeit device broke the back of a newspaper reporter.
Rebekah Metzler, a reporter for the Sun Journal newspaper in Maine, was rolling down a hill inside the car-sized inflatable ball when it hit a post and bounced nearly 3m in the air.
The "Zorb" involved was owned by Zorb New England, whose owner Barry Billcliff was two years ago involved in a scandal over the alleged theft of a cache of antique money hidden in a barn.