Midway accident hospitalizes 2 teens

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This article was published 18/07/2010 (5538 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CALGARY — As two teenagers recover from severe injuries, provincial investigators said Saturday it could take two months to determine why and how a popular midway ride at the Calgary Stampede broke, sending wreckage flying and injuring 10 people.

Crystal Cote was watching her daughter and a friend on the Scorpion ride when it malfunctioned Friday around 9 p.m. The next thing she knew, both teenagers were on the ground and chaos erupted.

Cote said her 13-year-old daughter Justice has two punctured lungs, kidney and spleen damage and scrapes to her skin that look like third-degree burns.

"She’s in a lot of pain," Cote said Saturday from Alberta Children’s Hospital. The mother said she hasn’t been able to speak with her daughter, as she’s on medication. "She’s unresponsive. She’s in rough shape," said the mother, adding she’s unsure of her daughter’s prognosis.

Cote said the other injured teen is her daughter’s boyfriend, Daylon Lonechild, 14. He’s in the same hospital with a head injury after being thrown from the ride and a piece of the wreckage landed on top of him.

Eight others who were taken to hospital have been released.

The company that operates the rides — North American Midway Entertainment — says the accident is unprecedented.

"North American Midway has not had any previous incidents of this kind," the company said in a news release. "The Scorpion ride will not be reopened and the manufacturer has been notified." A spokeswoman declined further comment.

Stampede officials said Saturday the investigation is out of its hands, but note the ride underwent an inspection on Friday. "Every day those rides go through an inspection," said Stampede spokesman Doug Fraser.

The investigation is being led by the Alberta Elevating Device and Amusement Rides Safety Association, which was responsible for inspecting the midway rides before the exhibition opened last week. The group inspects and licenses everything from elevators to ski lifts to carnival rides.

Meanwhile, questions are being raised about how authorities handled the incident.

One witness was shocked to see the ride continue to run after one of the arms with passengers had broken off and slammed into a railing.

Dustin Anderson-Sharples, 17, was in one of the cars that broke away.

After emergency services tended to the most wounded, Anderson-Sharples went to a medical tent.

"They gave me water and an ice pack and they sent me on my way," he said. "They bandaged me up and gave me some Tylenol as well."

The teen attended a medical clinic on Saturday and was told he had a broken hand and a possible fracture in his femur.

The malfunction didn’t seem to faze ride goers Saturday, although some remarked that the midway seemed less busy than usual on the final weekend of the 10-day event.

 

— Postmedia News