Little Boy, 3, Rushed To Hospital After Falling From Roller Coaster In Pennsylvania

This is absolutely horrifying! A 3-year-old boy reportedly fell out of a roller coaster in Pennsylvania and had to be airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. SO scary! The incident occurred at the Idlewild and SoakZone amusement park and marks the nation’s 4th amusement park accident in 5 days!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The young boy who fell is reportedly from Jeannette and was in critical condition after the incident. He underwent surgery on Aug. 11, according to Trib Live. However, the details surrounding the case are a bit fuzzy as not much has been released.

But the park spokesman, Jeff Croushore, did tell the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the child “was talking” and “was alert with his family” after the fall. The incident reportedly happened on an old wooden ride called the Rollo Coaster, which was build in 1938. Shockingly, the coaster reaches 40 feet at its peak, extends for 1,400 feet, speeds up to 25 miles per hour, and is NOT equipped with seat belts.

The boy, who’s name has not been released, apparently fell off of the ride about halfway through its course. And while the attraction does have a height requirement of 36 inches and mandates that any riders under 48 inches be accompanied by an adult, the little boy was only accompanied by his seven-year-old brother, according to Trib Live.

The youngster reportedly fell about 10 feet off the wooden ride and hit his head. But while a 911 dispatcher described the boy as falling, a statement from the amusement park obtained by the Post-Gazette said only that “a boy riding the Rollo Coaster with his brother was injured while riding the attraction.” So it’s not completely clear what happened or even how high the ride was at the time of the injury.

But regardless of the details, this is a very scary event! And even worse, this marks the fourth accident in a U.S. amusement park in the last five days. Three kids fell from a Ferris Wheel at a Tennessee county fair on Aug. 8, which left a 6-year-old with a critical brain injury and a 16-year-old initially in critical condition, but doing better as of Aug. 11.

A day earlier, on Aug. 7, two park-goers were reportedly injured when a launch cable separated from a roller coaster at Cedar Points park in Ohio. And that same day, a 10-year-old, Caleb Schwab, was decapitated when he flew out of his raft while riding Verrückt at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas.