Rachel Hawes was waiting in line to ride the Top Thrill Dragster rollercoaster at Ohio's Cedar Point amusement park when she was suddenly hit by a random object, which was later identified as a proximity flag plate that belonged to the coaster.
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Hawes was waiting in line to ride the Top Thrill Dragster with her father when the metal plate dislodged from a train and struck her in the head. The object was an L-shaped bracket roughly the size of a man's hand that had been attached to the back of a train car, state investigators said.
Cedar Point shut the ride, which first opened in 2003 and stood at 420ft, following Hawes' accident and announced it would be permanently retired in September 2022 ahead of a revamp.
During the ride, the 14-year-old “slipped through the gap between the seat and harness,” according to the state report. It concluded that “the cause of the accident was that Tyre Sampson was not properly secured in the seat.” The autopsy report said Tyre died from blunt force trauma.
Attorney Michael Haggard represented the family of 14-year-old Tyre Sampson, who died in March of 2022 after slipping out of his safety bar and falling from another Florida amusement park ride. Haggard said Bonnet nearly suffered the same, horrible death.
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. —A 6-year-old Louisiana boy is back home recovering after falling from the Galaxy Spin roller coaster at Fun Spot America's theme park in Osceola County.
A new video released by Cedar Point this week teases what's ahead for the amusement park's popular Top Thrill Dragster, three years after it was shut down after a park patron was severely injured by a piece of metal that fell from the ride.
Metal from a Cedar Point roller coaster flew into Rachel Hawes' head. She's disabled for life, suit says. SANDUSKY, Ohio - A Michigan woman who was seriously injured when she was struck in the head by a metal bracket that flew off a roller coaster at an Ohio amusement park is suing the park for negligence.
* The metal part was determined to be a “proximity flag plate,” which had been attached to the left-side rear of the train. Its purpose is to help relay to the ride's computer system where the train is on the track. Both the flag plate and a missing bolt were recovered on the day of the accident.