Her older daughter, 10-year-old Kayla, broke her arm when the children plummeted more than 30 feet to the ground.
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Reynolds expressed confidence in the girls’ doctors and the hospital, gratitude for the community’s support, and astonishment at the media attention over the incident.
“We all want to know why this awful accident happened”, she said, “and what we can do to prevent it from happening again”.
A 6-year-old girl suffered a traumatic brain injury after she and two other girls fell from a Ferris wheel at a Tennessee county fair.
Davis said no one interviewed by police on Monday indicated that they saw the seat rocking.
As if you needed another reason to spend the rest of the summer indoors, three girls in Tennessee fell nearly 45 feet from a broken ferris wheel at a county fair Monday, the Washington Post reports. Tim Davis did not offer details, saying he’s waiting for reports from each of the four inspectors reviewing the ride.
All rides operated at the Greene County Fair were shut down after the incident and will remain closed until inspections are completed, according to reports.
Because of Monday’s accident, the operators will have to have a new third-party inspection conducted before the ride can qualify for a new annual permit in Tennessee, Farrar said.
The state relies instead on private inspectors hired by ride operators as well as inspections in other states to determine if roller coasters, zip lines and Ferris wheels are safe.
Authorities say the three youngsters fell from the ride at the Greene County Fair in eastern Tennessee on Monday night. But there is no state requirement for an inspection to confirm that traveling equipment has been properly reassembled before children climb on board. Instigators determined that ride operators had disabled a safety mechanism. An accident report filed with Tennessee authorities lists Ruby and Dominic Macaroni as the company’s owners.
After a 2014 audit found shortcomings in Tennessee’s regulatory program for rides at fairs and amusement parks, state officials made a decision to get out of the inspection business altogether.
According to the state, rides have been inspected annually to obtain a permit, and have also been inspected after an accident.
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Reynolds said Briley had seizures en route to the hospital and is sedated and on a ventilator, not breathing on her own, “but she is fighting”.
