I wonder is she saw her feet float in front of her as she was falling, like I used to do with pennies on the Dungeon Drop. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/22/national/main2965711.shtml Teen Loses Feet In Six Flags Accident 13-Year-Old Was Riding Superman Tower Of Power Ride In Louisville (CBS/AP) Officials at a Louisville amusement park say both of a teenage girl's legs were severed above the ankle while on a thrill ride at the park. Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg says the accident happened around 4:45 p.m. Thursday on the Superman Tower of Power. The girl's name and hometown have not been released because she is a minor. A broken cable could be seen sticking out from the side of the tower. Chris Williams, who witnessed the event, told CBS affiliate WLKY that riders saw the cable break as it got to the top on the right-hand side. Treva Smith said it snapped again as the ride descended. "The people on the ride just came and hit the ground," Smith said. Next, Williams said she saw the teen maimed. "As the ride came down, the wire swung left, struck the young lady on the back side of my children," Williams said. Williams' daughter had traded seats with the 13-year-old, and was sitting on the other side of the ride. Smith told WLKY she raced to the ride to find members of her group who had been on it. "When I got up there, the lady, she was just sitting there and she didn’t have no legs," Smith said. "She didn’t have no legs at all. She was just calm, probably in shock from everything." Goldberg says it's unclear at what point during the ride the 13-year-old girl was injured. She was taken to University Hospital. There was no word on her condition. "My son’s over there tripping out man," Williams said. "You want to come to a park and feel safe you know. We’ve got season passes. We’re not coming back for sure." The ride lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops 154 feet, reaching a speed of 54 miles per hour according to the park's Web site. It opened in 1995, then known as "the Hellevator," reports the Louisville Courier-Journal. The ride has been shut down indefinitely while park officials investigate what caused the accident. The rest of the park remained open.
that's terrible, not being able to walk ever again because of a theme park screw up... I would sue the hell out of them..
They should have kept the old name. "The Hellevator" is easily the coolest amusement park ride name ever...
I thought people hated frivolous lawsuits? This particular complaint has no legs. /yes, ticket to hell
this is the type of story makes you not want to ride an amusement park ride ever again. anyone know how successful lawsuits against these entities are? you have to know you are riding this things at your risk, however its mostly minors who do ride these rides. doesn't daniel snyder own six flags now?
no kidding!!! particularly if you witnessed this..or were there near it that day. you asked about success of the lawsuits. i'm betting they don't get very far before there's a huge settlement. maybe before the case is even filed. i don't believe you assume the risk of losing your legs when you get on an amusement park ride.
this is so awful. Poor girl. She lost them "above the ancle" What does that mean? It says her legs were gone, not just her feet.
people take risks when they ride these rides but i think the safe assumption is that the engineering is sound and the theme park does a reasonable job of making sure the mechanics are up to date. nobody rides a rollercoaster with the expectation that they can get dismembered. that isn't the risk people assume when they ride. if it were some minor injury like bumps and bruises, or maybe even whiplash, then you most definitely shouldn't be able to sue because you should expect to be jostled around in your seat. it is completely unacceptable, and unfathomable for even the most daring patron, to have rides with any significant risk of being dismembered.
Or fly in a plane... or ride in a car... or eat a hamburger... or eat spinach.... or sit in the sun...
which are all necessary, I'm not sure you can sue the sun though. riding amusment park rides is equivalent to bungy jumping.
Even the most sympathetic judge wouldn't award the family 9 figures. Hell, 10 million is pushing it....
