Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid The two women who were riding the raft with Caleb (Hannah Barnes and Matraca Baetz) have been speaking out in the media about possible negligence by the workers at Schlitterbahn. Historical Person Search Search Search Results Results Terry Lee Smurphat (1958 - 2013) Try FREE for 14 days Try FREE for 14 days. You must be this tall to ride. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { AP Photo/family photo, Tami Smurphat, the victim's mother. It was one of two fatal accidents in as many days, the other one in California. He said it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the lap bar and seat belt to work on someone of her size. Even though the seat-belt failed to keep the boy safely in his seat, an investigation deemed that the death was accidental. However, once Joshua was fastened into the ride, things started to go bad. "Thank you for your interest and concerns, but at this time the family is devastated and just wants to be left alone," said Nancy Reed, a family spokeswoman in Milpitas. "We are asking the court to fast-track the case. No one on the ride was physically injured. June 9, 1991 was a grim night at Kings Island Amusement park in southern Ohio. Hes been advocating for the belts to be required. "I was standing five feet from where he fell when he did die," said Tami Smurphat. In two of the cases, the riders weighed about 300 pounds or more. Park officials declined to comment because of the pending lawsuit but made the safety changes before reopening the ride. He said the investigation could take several weeks to complete. "A secondary safety system will hopefully prevent a death. The loss of Tyre was a tragic accident that we take very seriously." His mom saw it all. The Horrifying Death Of Joshua Smurphat | The INFAMOUS Drop Zone Stunt Tower Disaster Disastrous 3.72K subscribers Subscribe 11K views 1 month ago #themepark #accidentnews #dropzone The. Joshua Smurphat of Sunnyvale fell from his seat on the Drop Zone Stunt Tower at Paramount's Great America Theme Park in Santa Clara while his mother watched from the ground. Pennsylvania police seized gloves, flashlight from home of Idaho murders suspect In documents released by the state, the general manager of Funtime, the manufacturer of the Orlando Freefall ride writes about seat and shoulder restraint. The Commission's investigation also concluded that at least 11 incidents had gone unreported between 1976 and 1979. The Sunnyvale boys family has filed a lawsuit against the park and Intamin, contending that the shoulder harness was not in a locked position and that the rides design allows it to start even if the restraints arent secured. They have declined to comment on the accident. The Cedar Points PR Manager Bryan Edwards made a statement that the woman who suffered head injuries was only taken to the hospital "as a precaution" and failed to mention the seriousness of the injury. Unfortunately,. Santa Clara police met yesterday with Great America officials and the ride's manufacturer, the Switzerland-based Intamin AG, to discuss what could have happened. He said if Orlando is worried about tourism, they should take the ride down, instead of trying to keep it up with safety changes. Joshua Smurphat was from Sunnyvale, CA, and died on a Sunday. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Elizabeth Holmes cites her new baby as a reason she should avoid prison for Theranos scam, ChatGPT who? "Its business as usual for them. It is a pneumatically powered pendulum ride technically classified as a "Screamin' Swing." She also claims that the park disregarded a March 1996 recommendation from the Santa Clara Fire Department, which called for the installation of a safety strap between the ride's seat and the harness. Park spokesman Timothy Chanaud described the boy as "severely disabled, both mentally and physically," but said the disabilities should not have prevented him from riding safely. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. The ride features a 22-story free fall. Let's look at his life from a biblical perspective. The drop was over 60ft. "It has a good safety record," according to Chanaud. How could this happen?' His family is calling for a simple safety measure that they say may have prevented his death, and the death of a teen in Orlando. Local police and park investigators are trying to determine how the boy could have come out of his restraint. In light of the most recent death, that of a 40-year-old Duarte woman on Sept. 21 at Knotts Berry Farm, lawyers and safety advocates believe both manufacturers and amusement parks need to take a closer look at establishing weight limits for their rides or warning heavy patrons that they might be at risk. A family friend who was present at the time of Joshua's death said that the accident seemed to occur when the ride's magnetic breaking system engaged more than halfway down the tower. It wasn't immediately known how far he fell. ", The DropZone is a 224-foot tall freefall tower that drops six four-passenger cars down 207 feet at speeds of up to 60 mph. AP Photo by Paul Sakuma, View of Paramount's Great America Drop Zone Stunt Tower ride in Santa On July 28, 2014 one of the cables snapped and struck a mother and her daughter. "We're a bunch of cheery people, and we're supposed to have smiles on our faces when we come to work, but a lot of people are crying today," said a game booth operator who gave his name only as Eddie. Fellner's father filed a lawsuit against the park in 2005 claiming that she died due to negligence. #inline-recirc-item--id-91e18158-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { Although most of these horrific amusement park accidents involve incidents where people are thrown unwilling from a passenger car, sometimes the person is still on the ride when it pulls back into the station. A 523 error means that Cloudflare could not reach your host web server. Tamar Fellner was riding the Raven roller coaster but fell out on the first and steepest hill after she allegedly stood up in her seat during the 69-foot drop. Sure, they throw around statistics claiming that only one in 24 million people are at risk of being injured on a ride, while the odds are a staggering one in 750 million to be killed on a ride. Having witnessed the young boys death, the women claim that the ride decapitated him and he was dead by the time he got to the bottom of the slide. "I knew right away they had to be dead." "Maybe cause it's a color issue, that's why the. 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A disabled 12-year-old boy died after plummeting from an amusement park ride that was about to be shut down for a safety check. Kernacs blamed rider error, saying Smurphat should have been better supervised. "I was standing five feet from where he fell when he did die," said Joshua's mother, Tami Smurphat. "At the end of the day these are manufacturer-based decisions," said Brian Avery, an amusement ride safety expert, when asked about adding a secondary belt. Sergeant James Hackemer was 29-years-old when he died on the Ride of Steel at Darien Lake Theme Park in Syracuse, New York. Also located in Cedar Point is the ride Skyhawk. When 10-year-old Caleb Schwab went down the extreme 168ft Verrckt slide (the tallest water slide in the world), he was ejected out of the raft and suffered fatal injuries to his neck. The boy suffered from "severe mental and physical handicaps" but that did not mean that he could not ride Drop Tower: Scream Zone. Park officials. Witness Tammy Matczak described seeing the two bodies fly into the air. Sampson was riding Free Fall in ICON Park when he fell to his death. "Frankly, it takes you back. "A secondary safety system will hopefully prevent a death. The emergency brake also failed. The rider sits without a seatbelt, while the feet hang freely. Apparently (and obviously), the fault lies with the operator. Kernacs said Mason-Larez--who weighed 292 pounds and had a girth of 56 inches, according to a coroners report--should not have been allowed on the ride by operators. Although investigators acknowledged that her intoxication may have played a role, the report stated: No matter what physical or mental state the victim was in, the restraints should have been sufficient to keep her in her seat until the conclusion of the ride., Riders Need Warning of Risks, Advocates Say. "It sounded like a big kerchunk, like (the sound made) when the harness snaps open or closed when you get on or off the ride.". Failure Analysis Associates, an inspection firm under contract by Great America, also is looking into the accident. But I feel like it's time for them to somehow pay for what they did to my child. On August 23, 1999 a strange and terrifying incident occurred at Paramount's Great America amusement park in Santa Clara. Tripadvisor names the world's top 25 beaches, three in the U.S. However, once Joshua was fastened into the ride, things started to go bad. The friend, Jay Lingenfelter, 35, also said the accident seemed to occur when the ride's magnetic breaking system engaged more than halfway down the tower. Joshua Smurphat's fatal fall at Paramount's Great America amusement park in 1999 was caused by a malfunctioning harness on a drop tower ride. In June 1991 Candy Taylor, 32, a widowed mother of two, died after falling from the Flight Commander, a simulated airplane flight, at Paramounts Kings Island amusement park in Ohio. Then the U.S. government blindsided it, Dilbert and Scott Adams rapid downfall doesnt surprise anyone who followed both. "I saw everything," Smurphat said. Park officials disputed witness accounts suggesting that the boy was not properly strapped into his seat. In each accident, he said, the rider or operators should have been more responsible. "We've had phone calls from people who were affected by the accident Sunday, and we have reassured them about the safety of the park," said Chanaud. We simply don't know what happened.". Tyre Sampson died during Lunation number 1227 in the year 2022. It seems that the restricted area of roller coasters are just as dangerous, if not more dangerous than the rides themselves. display: none; The ride has both seat belts and T-shaped lap bars, and both of Mason-Larezs were found in the locked position after the fall, said Knotts General Manager Jack Falfas. }, First published on August 23, 1999 / 2:55 PM. Joshua's mother, Tami Smurphat, told television station KTVU she was still reeling from the horror of having witnessed her son's death. However, some workers and customers at Great America said yesterday that the sadness of Joshua's death seemed to cast a pall over the normally fun thrill park, which flew its flags at half-staff in Joshua's memory. The manufacturer--Intamin AG, a worldwide company known for its cutting-edge roller coasters at parks such as Six Flags Magic Mountain and Disneys California Adventure--has denied responsibility in all three cases. Lassiter was rushed to the hospital where doctors reattached her right foot. "You dont mentally associate amusement parks with tragedy. Dwaileebe could not be reached for comment. Sometimes people are injured because they simply don't follow the rules: Do not stand up. Directly following the accident, the ride was shut down for an investigation. "It freaked me out. In June 2008, 17-year-old Asia Leeshawn Ferguson was horrifically decapitated by the "Batman" ride at the amusement park Six Flags Over Georgia. "Happy Birthday to you!" The ride will be in operation when Great America opens for the season in April, Chanaud said. This incident is just one of many that have happened at one of the Cedar Fair Amusement Parks across the US. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. "How he fell from a ride equipped with a contoured seat and an over-the-shoulder safety harness is not known," says a police report which suggests that Smurphat fell from the 129-foot tall ride as his car was . "When the braking system started, I heard something," he told the San Francisco Examiner. Great America park officials near the scene of the accident at Drop Zone where Joshua Smurphat, 12 years old, died while on the ride Sunday. In Kings Mills, Ohio, the Paramount's Kings Island amusement park closed two rides similar to the ones involved in the fatal accidents at two other Paramount parks, a spokesman said. Guyton had apparently wandered into the restricted zone accidentally. Although the pond was roped off, there were no signs that the water itself was dangerous. At about 78 feet, a magnetic braking system catches the riders and gently brings them to the ground. Douglas Smith, an associate professor of neurosurgery explains that when the head moves that quickly on a roller coaster, the brain is also moving or "deforming" inside the skull, and if this occurs too quickly it is possible to suffer serious brain injuries. Tyre Sampson would have turned 15 years old on Wednesday. "There is no possible relation between that vehicle that was closed off and the vehicle in which the accident occurred," he said. Dwaileebe should not have ridden the ride because he was too obese, he said. #inline-recirc-item--id-91e18158-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d, #right-rail-recirc-item--id-91e18158-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d { More than 10 years ago, there was a problem on another Intamin ride. "We've been bombarded by calls and have nothing to say now.". By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. He and others said park management told them not to talk to the press. It sounded like a big kerchunk, like when the harness snaps open or closed when you get on or off the ride," he said. Six others were taken to St. Francis Hospital and treated for serious injuries. Witnesses reported seeing Esparza moving around in her seat and appeared not to be securely strapped into the ride. A 15-year-old friend riding with Christopher reported seeing him begin to fall out of the ride even though the seat-belt was still fastened. Company officials blame rider and operator error. The ride has since been shut down. It takes you back to those moments when you find out that your loved one has passed in this way," Smurphat's sister, Alicia OLeary, told Fox 35. The entire ride was to be taken out of commission for the rest of the day--but not until the final group of riders, including Joshua, were given their turn. OLeary believes that the recent death in Orlando could have been prevented if a belt was used in addition to the shoulder harness. The three boys had been at the park all day riding different rides and everything was normal until they went around a corner on Space Invader. In February 2000, a judge found the owner of the ride Anderson Ventures and the Delaware-based company guilty of violating the Ontario's Amusement Devices Act. He has ridden with the rails with modern-day hobos, witnessed seven prison executions, written extensively about serial killers including the Unabomber, Doodler and Zodiac, and covered disasters ranging from the Sept. 11 terror attacks at Ground Zero to California's devastating wildfires. Attendance seemed to be normal, he said. He is seeking $15 million in punitive damages, funeral expenses and attorney fees. "The same situation happened in 1999, a drop tower ride. While riding the roller coaster Wild Wonder, the car climbing to the top of the first drop lost its traction and came hurtling backward. The familys attorneys also said ride operators were not vigilant in securing Mason-Larezs seat belt and lap bar. Witnesses claimed to see the boy exit the ride, which was done easily since there were no seat-belts or restraining devices at all on the ride. Rules and regulations of Hi-Speed Race Karts states that all riders must be at least 5-feet tall, all riders must sign a release, and only one rider be allowed in a co-kart at a time. Mancini, the Mason-Larez attorney, said that if manufacturers are aware of risks to heavy people, riders should be informed. Although the actual go-kart was in line with safety practices and regulations, the child should not have been in the go-cart in the first place. the skyview building hyderabad; julian clary ian mackley split; timothy evatt seidler; case hardening advantages and disadvantages; doorbell chime with built in 16v transformer Her family sued Six Flags as they were to blame for the ride malfunctioning, as well as a slow response time on behalf of the person operating the ride. An employee claimed that the "electric eyes" engineered to keep the trains separated had apparently failed and explained that "two systems had to break down for this to occur." Both Intamin and park officials have denied responsibility. Both the company and the park have denied responsibility. There is currently an investigation taking place as people have come forward claiming that there have been other close calls on the Verrckt slide in the past with safety straps coming loose and people nearly being thrown out. Ari Emanuel lets his AI alter ego open Endeavors earnings call, Sam Bankman-Fried increasingly isolated as another associate takes a plea deal, Column: Uber and Lyfts deactivation policy is dehumanizing and unfair. "When the vehicle is in motion, there is no way to unlock it," he said. However, Ryan's mother Leah Bergonozi believes to this day that the seat-belt failed on the ride and killed her daughter. Tami Smurphat said she is convinced her son would be alive today if the park had taken more precautions. For the 4-year-olds, the 5-year-olds and the 300-pound women, for the people at the edges, the risk rises considerably. Joshua was on the latest of many trips to the park, said one family friend who came to the park yesterday to drop off flowers. Amusement ride safety expert, Brian Avery, agrees with the family's call for a secondary belt to be required. ", A large bouquet of daisies and irises, set around a smiling portrait of the boy in a New York Mets baseball uniform, was left at the entrance of the park last night by relatives. If we are relying on the mental or physical capability of a rider to retain [him- or herself] in the ride, then were putting the burden on the wrong person.. I dont got that, but what I do got, is a heart of a lion. Kernacs said the ride is equipped with a third restraint--a grab bar--and Mason-Larez would have been safe if she had been holding on. "These guys got a lot of money, power, a lot of influences. "I was standing five feet. Dwaileebe, who weighed more than 300 pounds, came out of that ride like a cork out of a champagne bottle, said his attorney, Francis M. Letro, who has filed a $5-million lawsuit against Intamin and Six Flags. The Orlando Slingshot Group released this statement regarding a memorial: "We continue to cooperate with all inquiries, and it is our hope that one way Tyres name and memory can live on is through the proposed Tyre Sampson Bill, which we support. Joshua Smurphat of Sunnyvale fell from his seat on the Drop Zone Stunt Tower at Paramount's Great America Theme Park in Santa Clara while his mother watched from the ground. THE DISAPPEARANCE of 11-year-old Madalina Cojocari remains an unsolved mystery 70 days after she vanished from her home in Cornelius, North Carolina. A second witness, a family friend who was on the ride with Joshua, said he did not remember the boy's safety harness being checked by workers before the ride began. Park officials would not comment on the lawsuit. Ms. Bailey and her daughter were taken to Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point where they were given an autopsy. The small child attended the Hi-Speed Race Karts race track with her family and was riding in a go-kart with her mother when the fatal accident occurred. A young man died, but it was a Hispanic man. But when I wake up, I know it's not a dream. "But we have to look at all the parameters and explore all the avenues -- maintenance records and employee experience. Over a decade ago, 14-year-old Ryan Bielby died on the Timber Wolf roller coaster in Kansas City. His family is calling for a simple safety measure that they say may have prevented his death, and the death of a teen in Orlando. His father and local leaders gathered outside the Orlando FreeFall ride at ICON Park where he fell to his death with balloons and a message. His name is fairly biblical - the city of Tyre in modern-day Lebanon is mentioned many times throughout its texts. Switch to the dark mode that's kinder on your eyes at night time. Creative writer with a love for the strange and unfamiliar. The other boy apparently jumped to safety on an emergency platform. display: none; Rides should be designed to withstand all foreseeable circumstances--to include unconsciousness, wiggling and obesity, Dodge said. You associate them intuitively with happy family days, fun, and memories. Questions remain unanswered surrounding the tragic death of Caleb Schwab and why more safety precautions weren't taken to ensure that something like this did not happen and will not happen again. By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. We encourage you to research and examine . Most people, especially younger people, don't really consider how dangerous just being at an amusement park can actually be. Edit Search New Search Filters (1) To get better results, add more information such as First Name, Birth Info, Death Info and Locationeven a guess will help. Officials didn't have a hometown for Fan but said he lived on Long Island in New York. 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