1 Dead at Cedar Point After Being Struck by The Raptor Roller Coaster
We have some unfortunate news to report. 45-year-old James A. Young, of East Canton, Ohio went into a fenced off area of Cedar Point’s Raptor roller coaster and was struck by the ride. He was reportedly looking for a lost cell phone in the fenced-off area of the park when he was hit. Bryan Edwards, Cedar Point’s Public Relations Manager, released the following statement about the accident:
At approximately 5 p.m., a guest entered a restricted, fenced area of the Raptor roller coaster and was struck by the ride. Park safety officials responded immediately to the situation. Unfortunately the guest has passed away. Local authorities are on the scene conducting an investigation.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family at this time.
Alex Nay was waiting in line to ride the coaster when the gruesome scene unfolded and took the photo below. The caption said:
“They just gave up on chest compression”
“I didn’t see it happen because I was about to get on the ride, but I saw him laying on the ground and the medics giving him chest compression’s and eventually stop,” Nay said.
Local officials are still on scene investigating. The incident unfortunately happened on the same day that more than 6,000 people attended the park as a part of the LeBron James Family Foundation’s long-term partnership with Cedar Point.
Incidents like this is why areas of the parks are fenced off and marked with “Authorized Personnel Only”. Please, for everyone’s safety, respect the restricted areas! Prayers from the entire Coaster Nation staff go out to the Young family.
The chance of a fatal injury at a theme park is one in 1.5 billion [Source: CPSC]. By comparison, the chance of fatal injury in a car crash is almost 15 in 10,000 [Source: U.S. Department of Transportation]. You’re about twice as likely to suffer a shark attack as you are to sustain an injury at a theme park requiring a hospital stay. With that said, we still say theme park rides are incredibly safe! Although amusement parks are safe, accidents do happen. Earlier this year a young girl lost her leg while riding “The Smiler” roller coaster. See full story here.
Raptor is one of Cedar Points most famous coasters as it is among the first that guests see when entering the park. Built by B&M (Bolliger & Mabillard) in 1994, Raptor is a steel inverted roller coaster that broke many records and held many firsts when it opened. Raptor was designed with a larger, 3,790-foot layout making it the tallest, fastest and longest inverted roller coaster in the world when it opened. It features a total of six inversions, including a cobra roll, which was a first for inverted roller coasters. When it debued, it was the largest investment in Cedar Point history at approximately 12 million dollars.
Take a ride in the front seat below!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnHZ3Yxpfkc
For more information, visit the official Cedar Point website by clicking here.
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