Woman flung from popular fairground ride at 60mph 'lucky to be alive'
A teacher who was thrown from a fairground ride at 60mph while at a fair with friends has admitted she is "lucky to be alive".
Jade Harrison was flung from the Airmaxx 360 ride at Hull Fair when a metal bar across her lap gave way. The preschool teacher from Hull was hurled from the ride and smashed into another attraction mid-air before crashing to the ground.
The 27-year-old was rushed to Hull Royal Infirmary where she was found to have a broken jaw requiring surgery and metal plates. She also suffered serious nerve damage to her right thigh, which remains numb to this day, as well as internal bruising to her chest, facial injuries and damaged teeth that needed removal and repair.
Following the incident in October 2019, Jade received a five-figure settlement from the insurers of the ride's owners, Taylor's Funfairs, who admitted liability for the accident. Speaking about the near-death experience, Jade said she visited the fair every year but had never gone on the Airmaxx 360 before.
The Airmaxx 360 spins full circles while lifting and dropping individual carriages, reaching speeds of up to 60mph. 'I watched it go around and I thought no that's alright I'll go on that," Jade said.
A minute and a half into the ride, Jade said she heard a strange clicking sound from her seat restraint, but brushed it off when her friend said theirs had done the same. Then the carriage began to shift and changed position. 'I just remember thinking I don't like that, I don't like that," she said. "And then it was too late. As soon as the ride started bouncing the bar just gave away."
Jade was hurled from the ride, hitting another attraction mid-air before crashing to the ground. She blacked out instantly. 'All I remember is the feeling of flipping like you do in a dream when you wake up startled," the teacher said.
'When I came to I was laid on the floor next to the ride but everyone was just around me and I was a bit confused. I kind of forgot where I was and what I was doing so it took me a minute to realise what had happened.
'Then obviously I started panicking and everyone was telling me to calm down. It felt like ages for the paramedics to get there but in reality it was only about two minutes.'
She added: 'When I came off my ride I hit the ride next to me. They even said if I had hit that ride differently I would be dead. There was no way of surviving. Luckily I hit the ride the way that I did so I hit the carriage, rather than the floor or anything else.'
Jade spent four days in hospital and was unable to return to work for nearly a year after the accident in October 2019. She continued to undergo dental work into 2021 and says the mental recovery took just as long.
'I was in denial in the beginning. It was hard for me to accept that it happened to me," Jade said. 'I would constantly tell myself I'm not going to think about it, I'm not going to think about it. But by doing that I was just delaying pain. When I think about it deeply and I think how differently it could have gone I think I'm lucky to be alive."
Jade, who was unable to get out of bed without her partner's help, has insisted she will "never go on a fairground ride again". Now living with the lasting effects of her accident, Jade says the incident still impacts her life, six years on. 'It's still a prevalent factor in my life," she said.
"When I look in the mirror I always notice my leg, my right thigh that is damaged. That's quite a big insecurity to me. That's the main thing that reminds me.'
Jade is unable to have further surgery on her leg, as it is classed as cosmetic surgery, meaning she will be unable to have paid time off work. She believes more must be done to prevent similar accidents. 'I definitely think something needs to be done to stop this happening. It just doesn't make sense," she said.
Jade received a five-figure settlement from the insurers of the ride's owners, Taylor's Funfairs, who admitted liability for the accident. A criminal investigation by the Health and Safety Executive was later dropped in 2023. The report found that the safety restraints of the Airmaxx 360 were 'inadequate'.
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