[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A 32-year-old man has died after plunging roughly 60 feet down to the ground after hanging from the bars of a seated cab on a theme park ride in Farmington, Utah.
The man — who has not been publicly identified by authorities at this point — had some of his final moments captured on camera when another theme park guest took out her cell phone and recorded him hanging on the bars.
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The disturbing incident occurred on Saturday evening at the Lagoon Amusement Park in the city of Farmington. Lucy Grace Astilla was aboard the Sky Ride with her family, when she and her husband noticed the man hanging from the bars of the ride as they passed by. The Sky Ride is a famous attraction at Lagoon: a fifty-year-old, two-seater cable car that ferries passengers across the park in a slow, relaxing way.
In fact, things were so relaxed with the man appearing to effortlessly hang from the bars facing backwards that Astilla thought it was a stunt — or some kind of stuntman training — when she first filmed the incident. Speaking to the media afterwards, the shocked mother recalled how the man didn’t seem to be in distress at all, and he wasn’t flailing or calling for help.
She recalled:
“I thought it was a stunt, or he is a gymnast practicing for American Ninja Warrior, rehearsing. But then I noticed he didn’t have any equipment that would save him from a fall.”
Jeez…
Astilla’s car kept traveling in the opposite direction, passing the man’s car on the other track, and when she got near the ride operator, she called out to them and asked to stop the ride, explaining that there was a passenger hanging outside one of the cars. Right at that moment, then, she heard a crowd of people scream behind her — and that’s when she realized what had happened.
The terrified eyewitness explained more:
“We were by the roller coaster, so I think maybe it was for that, but it wasn’t. The screaming was because the man fell. People called 9-1-1. It was all so quick.”
With other bystanders assisting, first responders were on the scene quickly, and the man was eventually airlifted to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, where he was initially listed in critical condition. Sadly, on Monday, the Farmington Police confirmed he died from his injuries.
As we noted (above), law enforcement officials haven’t said anything more publicly about the man other than his age. Their initial investigation has determined that the fall was not intentional, according to reporting from local TV news outlets.
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What a terrible and unnerving situation — for the man, for his loved ones, and for eyewitnesses like Astilla and others at the park that day. So sad.
You can see a local Utah TV news clip of the incident (below).
[ WARNING]
Video captured in the embed does not show the man falling to the ground, but it does showing disturbing footage of him hanging from the cable car in mid-air just minutes before the fall:
Wow. Absolutely awful — not to mention inexplicable.
Amusement park officials say the ride has “a flawless safety record” and has “operated without incident since 1974,” including no maintenance or rider safety issues this past weekend.
Again, our thoughts and prayers go out to this man’s family and loved ones.
R.I.P…
[Image via Local News 8/YouTube]
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