I assume they would have had wristbands which you purchase for $35 (? not sure, haven't bought one in ages, definitely less than $50 though) and you can ride an unlimited amount of times that day, minus a couple "premium" rides.
Yikes I was there at that time but went on that green ride that spins you around and then moves sideways. Didn't hear anything happen until after.
I'll try not to go into too much detail..mods you can delete it if it's too much..
I had been on that ride with a few friends about a minute before it happened. We go off and went straight to the crazy slide that was right beside it because I wanted to have a competition. As we got to the top and had just stopped with a few people in front of us, we heard a huge crash and we all looked over the edge of the slide (being up so high we had a birds eye view of everything) and saw the green cars flipped upside down and sliding off the platform. Since the ride didn't stop immediately, (I don't know how long it took to come to a complete stop), we saw the blue set of cars smash into the green cars and pushed it even further off the platform as people were frantically trying to escape, but many were stuck because of the bar that comes across your legs. The car that was the only one still on the platform had pinned a girl with her head/neck stuck in the car, while her legs were above her head (think lying on your back and kicking your legs up to try and touch them behind your head), and there was a boy beside her who I later found out were brother and sister, who was curled up in a ball holding his head, and neither of them were moving.
I stood there just in shock for a second, thinking how my worst nightmares of a ride breaking and killing me just unfolded in front of my eyes, when my friend yelled at me 'We gotta go!!.' I am a lifeguard and we had taken swimming/lifesaving courses together since we were little, and as soon as she said that I took off. I ran up and threw my mat on the slide and flew down as fast as I could with her following me, and when I came to the bottom I heard one of the ride attendants ask why I was in such a hurry, and I think I yelled out 'it broke!', and they replied 'what did?', and I replied 'the ride!' as I took off through a crowd of people. No one on that side of the midway had any idea what was going on, and most people that were by the washrooms and the twin flip/inverter area had no clue either, and I actually ran right through two cops who didn't have any idea what was going on either, as it happened about 30-40 seconds before. As I rounded the corner of the midway by the big bathrooms at he end of the sky ride, I already heard sirens coming that way. Once I made it to the ride, I somehow ran right through the whole crowd of people (I don't remember, my adrenaline was going through the roof) and ran up to the platform and just yelled that I knew how to deal with spinals and CPR and AED's. I only ever saw 3 of the victims, one who tried to escape before they got smashed by the blue car, and the boy and girl that were on the platform. Just from seeing them lie there on the platform, I knew they were the ones who needed the most help. Someone helped lift me up onto the platform and I took over for a man who was stabilizing her head and neck while we waited for spine boards. I was trying to calm the girl down, but she was screaming for her brother, who I asked if he was on the ride with her. Sure enough he was the boy lying a few feet away, who had a huge laceration to his head and was bleeding pretty bad. They ended up putting an IV in him and put him on an oxygen tank, got him on a spine board and got him out of there..I don't think at any point they did CPR, however he may have been going in an out of consciousness, but I am not sure. I was trying to hold the girl still as she was kicking and screaming and crying because she didn't want to be put on a spine board and obviously just wanted her parents, so trying to keep her still was a task because we thought it might be a suspected spinal (she was the one who was trapped in the platform, her brother was the one curled up in a ball when I first saw it). Eventually we got her on a spine board and she was taken away by EMS. The Neurologist that was there did an outstanding job working with the girl's brother, and even in organizing people as to what they should and shouldn't be doing, to keep the situation less chaotic.
This incident seriously looked like a scene from a horror film that I thought I would never have to encounter. Once myself and another bystander that I was working with walked away, it finally sunk in what had actually happened, and let me tell you, I didn't sleep at all last night, and when I did, I woke up physically shaking because I was still in so much shock. Something that bothered me though was how people just stood there and watched, rather then helped. By the time I made it from the top of that slide, all the way around to the incident, was at least 30-40 seconds, and I was still one of the first to be on the scene. I just feel grateful I guess, that I have been trained through swimming lessons on how to deal with doing first aids, using spine boards, how to handle emergency situations, and I think that not only taking a CPR course but also incorporating courses that teach people how to use spine boards and how to deal with situations like this, would be very beneficial, and more people possibly could have been assisting at the scene within less time, and they are all good life skills to have. I'm just a lifeguard, not an EMT or a paramedic, but through swimming lessons I learned the tools I would need in order to at least assist those more trained professionals in emergency situations.
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"Some people literally say ‘I love the fans,’ but ‘I actually LOVE the fans.’ I mean, and I don’t even call them fans, they should just be friends because that’s the way they’ve treated me all this time" -Craig Conroy
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^Good for you for being able to put your lessons to work in a pressure situation to help people. I'm sure many people standing there stunned had first aid training but couldn't handle the stress/pressure of the situation to administer it. It's really admirable to be able to keep a clear head to help people in need.
Does anyone have a picture of this ride for the rest of us to know what it was?
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The picture in the second row in the middle ish with the emergency crew holding the hazardous bag was exactly where I was.
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"Some people literally say ‘I love the fans,’ but ‘I actually LOVE the fans.’ I mean, and I don’t even call them fans, they should just be friends because that’s the way they’ve treated me all this time" -Craig Conroy
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I assume they would have had wristbands which you purchase for $35 (? not sure, haven't bought one in ages, definitely less than $50 though) and you can ride an unlimited amount of times that day, minus a couple "premium" rides.
They were $35 if you bought them in advance at Safeway. If I remember the sign correctly at the Grounds, it was $59 if you purchased it there.
Its pretty sad that the majority of peoples first instinct is to grab their phone and film rather than assist people. Good on conroy22 to get there and help rather than play journalist.
Its pretty sad that the majority of peoples first instinct is to grab their phone and film rather than assist people. Good on conroy22 to get there and help rather than play journalist.
You can't really blame some people as they have no clue how to handle that situation and could end up hurting the injured people even more.
Hundreds of people already around, and not everyone can play doctor and nurse.
You can't really blame some people as they have no clue how to handle that situation and could end up hurting the injured people even more.
Hundreds of people already around, and not everyone can play doctor and nurse.
You see it all the time now. Everyone whips out the iphone and starts filming people getting assaulted, robbed, cars accidents ect. No one wants to get involved even when deep down they probably know they should at least try and help.
You see it all the time now. Everyone whips out the iphone and starts filming people getting assaulted, robbed, cars accidents ect. No one wants to get involved even when deep down they probably know they should at least try and help.
It is not just now, there is a well know psyc study done that shows te more people around, the less chance of you receiving help. Everyone thinks that someone else more qualifies and/or capable will step in. that or in other instances people think someone
else must have already called for help/done something.
think about the last time you stopped to assist someone broken down on the side of deerfoot. Have you ever?
now think if you driving down a long secluded road. Chances are you would stop because you know you are probably the only option this person has
Conroy 22, awesome stuff. I was actually walking through the midway, and had to move aside for emergency vehicles. I didn't actually hear what happened until the next day at home. We need more Conroy22s in this world.
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"Correction, it's not your leg son. It's Liverpool's leg" - Shankly
The problems I have with random folks just jumping in and helping are two fold. First, if you think you know what you are doing, and try to help and make the situation worse, you can become a target of a lawsuit as well.There are all sorts of funky laws that start to apply in weird ways about helping someone, conscious or unconscious, etc.
Second, how many folks actually have useful, up-to-date medical aid training? I see a LOT of idiots in my daily travels, and the last thing I would want is someone who thinks they know what they are doing but who really doesn't try to 'help' me.
Also, what disturbed me a bit about this was that despite folks whipping out iPhones and Tweeting and the like...almost no one got the situational information right. How many different rides was it said to be? How many different injury/fatality totals? If folks can't keep their heads about them enough to read the name off the ride and count the folks on the floor, as it were, you don't want them doing more complicated things like trying to help. You just want them out of the way so the real helpers can do their thing.
