Omaha girl injured on carnival ride

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Rhegan Fritzler, Staff Writer

An 11-year-old girl from Omaha, Nebraska was injured on a carnival ride on May 7, 2016. The ride began to slow causing the girl to slip when her hair was sucked into the machinery.

Elizabeth Gilreath, nicknamed Lulu by her family, was riding the “King’s Crown” at the Cinco de Mayo Festival in Omaha when she slipped from her seat. Her hair got pulled into the machinery, but the ride continued. She was tossed around for several minutes, causing her hair and scalp to be pulled off.

“She was tortured,” commented Timothy Gilreath, the girl’s father.

It appears that the girl’s long red hair got caught on one of the crown’s points, causing it to peel her scalp back.

After the incident, the girl was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. She has undergone several surgeries to reattach her scalp, but things may never be the same for the girl. It is uncertain whether her muscles will ever work again.

Mr. Gilreath said, “They don’t even know if the muscles will work and my daughter will be able to see again.”

The incident was caught on camera, and the ride operator is seen running from the ride, presumably to get help. A bystander, Jolene Cisneros, was also seen running up to the ride to stop it.

Cisneros commented, “It was still spinning; I had to stop it with my hand and turn it to the point where it was to the platform.”

Nebraska state investigators are looking into the incident, but it doesn’t appear it was negligence or that the ride was malfunctioning.

Nebraska’s Amusement Ride Act states that rides must be inspected by the Department of Labor when they are first set up and at least once a year. The King’s Crown was inspected on April 19, with no evident malfunction.