Child falls from ride at Movie World on the Gold Coast, hospitalised in serious condition

A child has been taken to hospital in a serious condition after falling from a ride at a Gold Coast theme park. 

Emergency services were called to Movie World at 1.08pm after a boy in his pre-teens fell from a ride. 

He was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a serious but stable condition with head injuries.
———————

 

that’s all the details reported currently so not sure of the ride or the how.

thoughts are with the boy and his family so a speedy recovery 

 

**edit**
from the Courier Mail:

It’s believed a boy has suffered a significant head injury after falling off a carousel.

Pictured: Reporters as they start typing the sentence "this comes just X years after the tragic Dreamworld incident that claimed four lives".

In all seriousness though, I hope the child is doing okay and my thoughts are with the family.

Can’t wait for the seatbelt & over the shoulder restraint on the carousel 👍🏼

46 minutes ago, xRazzBerryx said:

Can’t wait for the seatbelt & over the shoulder restraint on the carousel 👍🏼

No child shall suffer again. 

 

Edited April 5, 20224 yr by Dom

Firstly, I hope the kiddo is patched up and on the mend ASAP.

And now for the inevitable 'thoosie analysis'.

We do tend to jump to the park's defence in many cases, although a lot less lately in the wake of Thunder River - but we do tend to exhibit a sense of disbelief that such an incident could be the park's fault - the dude who stood up on the Dreamworld Log Flume is a classic example.

I try to bear all this in mind, because I can't help but feel that you can't really blame the park for this.... 

If I recall, the ride requires children below a certain height to be accompanied by a standing adult. Children above that height should have a certain ability to hold on. So either there is some level of negligence on behalf of the parent, or recklessness on behalf of the kid.

(Assuming of course that no part of the ride vehicle (character) was defective of course. I feel for the operator working at the time.)

I hope the kid is alright.

I hope they have no lasting effects from this incident

I hope that there was no negligence or other defect on behalf of the park

I hope that carousel continues to operate (after appropriate safety inspections are completed to ensure the ride is free from defect).

 

The ride will remain closed whilst they repair the dent in the roof

Full statement from Village Roadshow Theme Parks (via 7News)

Quote

 

This afternoon an ambulance was called to Movie World to attend to a guest following an incident on the carousel ride. 

The guest received a laceration to his head and was attended to by Movie World's Nurse before being taken to hospital in a stable condition. 

Our thoughts are with the guest and his family and we wish him a speedy recovery. 

We pride ourselves on our standards of care and quality and an investigation is being conducted as a matter of priority into the exact cause of the incident. 

In an abundance of caution the ride has been closed while we understand how the incident occurred. 

The safety and wellbeing of guests and team members is our top priority at Village Roadshow Theme Parks and we are committed to providing guests with a fun and safe environment. We will provide further updates when they are available.

 

 

He allegedly stood on the horse, and the camshaft got him. 100% the kids fault

15 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

recklessness on behalf of the kid.

Yeah all the eyewitness accounts and news reports were that he stood up and got smacked in the head when the 'horse' rose up to the top of the ride. 100% recklessness on his part and as a 12 year old he was probably goofing off.

I have nothing to back this up but i'll bet he was in-park with a bunch of mates, let loose by parents who dropped him at the gate, and they were all gee-ing each other up to do stupid shit.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

9 hours ago, bladex said:

He allegedly stood on the horse, and the camshaft got him. 100% the kids fault

Are you saying the kid stuck his head through the hole?

6 minutes ago, New display name said:

Are you saying the kid stuck his head through the hole?

I hadn't heard that but I went back through pictures I have of the ride and the hole is quite a large one, you could feasibly put your head in there. All the pictures I have - there doesn't appear to be any brushes, rubbers or guards - just a giant hole...

I'm just bringing it to people's attention that the ride has no exposed upper moving parts.  If somebody has made contact with the upper moving parts, they were doing more than standing on the horse. 

 

DW has closed its carousel.

Edited April 6, 20224 yr by New display name

All 3 parks have closed their carousels which sadly makes sense. They all look to be basically the same model.

@DaptoFunlandGuyhas it been ruled out a part fell through the hole and hit the boy in the head?

I'm only going off whats in publicly accessible media including eyewitness reports in those media reports that say he stood up and hit his head. I've also prefaced my comments with those disclaimers.

I'm not part of the invetigative team so your questions are best directed elsewhere.

10 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

I'm not part of the invetigative team so your questions are best directed elsewhere.

But I like it when you talk to me.

4 hours ago, New display name said:

But I like it when you talk to me.

The judge said you can’t do that anymore.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CcALNqGvRnp/?utm_medium=copy_link

more details of the accident provided via 7 news (if no access to instagram or link not working i will upload the video.)

 

based on the information within this news segment im assuming his head did in fact get caught in the giant hole above the characters and his hair perhaps got stuck on the gears. hopefully he’s alright soon

There are no gears, thats not how they work, and its why they probably dont need guards. The pole moves forward and back in the hole as the horse goes up and down too. If the person had their head inside the ceiling, they would have been crushed. Does not mean their hair didnt get caught on the ceiling rose and get torn when they fell or as the horse lowered though.

They tend to be big, powerful machines. They dont tend to move fast, but they have a lot of force behind any movements. Slow to start, slow to stop.

Edited April 6, 20224 yr by Levithian

As someone mentioned earlier, the 'horse' motion is driven by a camshaft \ crank - each row is connected to the centre (there are usually gears or friction tyres in the centre that pick up their motion from a centre ring gear or track) and each row's shaft rotates. Here's a better idea of whats above the horses:

 

 

So there are moving parts up there, but they're relatively slow moving and there isn't much opportunity for entanglement (at least without concerted effort).