Royal Melbourne show rollercoaster incident: Shylah Rodden family’s online abuse from trolls

The family of a young woman who suffered ‘horrific’ injuries in a shocking roller coaster incident has hit back at vicious online bullies.

Shylah Rodden, 26, remains in intensive care after falling 30 feet in the mysterious accident at the Royal Melbourne Show on Sunday, which is still under investigation.

The heartbreak comes as her family is still reeling from her brother’s death in July.

As Shylah’s concerned loved ones gather around her hospital bed, her sister told Daily Mail Australia she was appalled at the online abuse targeting her critically ill sister.

The beloved young Melburnian is in a coma after suffering a fractured pelvis, arms, legs and back.

“It’s sad and disgusting to see and cover up the false stories when my sister is fighting for her life,” Caisha said.

Shylah Rodden, 26, remains in intensive care after falling 30 feet in the mysterious accident, which is still under investigation. Pictured: The Rebel Coaster at the Royal Melbourne Show

Shylah Rodden and her sister Caisha in happier times. Shylah fights for his life in hospital

Online sleuths have coolly blamed Shylah for the tragedy after police claimed she was hit while trying to retrieve her cell phone.

“She serves herself well where she shouldn’t go,” one man wrote under a news story about the tragedy.

“It’s not a freak accident when she was somewhere she shouldn’t be,” said another.

Many of the comments are so cruel that Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to publish them.

Caisha said the rumors spread online are causing even more pain to her family who are struggling to cope.

“Absolutely misinformation about the accident, which is really sad and causes more suffering for our family,” she said.

“Shylah is in critical condition and we won’t know more until later in the day as we will talk to the police and make some eyewitness statements.”

Her father, Alan Rodden, said a mystery still shrouds how Shylah was hit.

“There are a lot of stories going around and I don’t know which one is true or if anyone is covering their tracks,” he said.

Shylah Rodden was working on the show when she apparently decided to go on the roller coaster during a break

On Monday, police claimed that Shylah was hit by the ride at the Royal Melbourne Show while trying to get her mobile phone off the tracks and hit by the ride traveling at about 70km/h.

Shocked families watched as chaos unfolded in The Rebel Coaster on Sunday, with paramedics treating Shylah at the scene for serious facial injuries before taking her to hospital in critical condition.

Rodden said his daughter suffered life-changing injuries.

‘Of course I can’t talk to my daughter. She will be in a coma for quite some time,” he said.

“The injuries are terrible. Awful. She has brain damage. It’s the pelvis, her arms, legs, back, neck – there’s almost nothing that isn’t broken. I just don’t understand how the hell so much damage was done.

“Even the doctors have said they haven’t seen this much in ages.”

Shylah Rodden lost her brother Jason just two months before the shocking roller coaster crash in Melbourne

The family’s fear comes after Shylah’s brother Jason died just two months earlier.

She wrote on Facebook that her “world collapsed” when he died.

“Dad sat me down and told me my brother had died,” Shylah wrote weeks before her accident.

“He wasn’t just my big brother, he was my best friend, my everything, the person I looked up to and looked for.

“He taught me so much in life, he showed me the difference between right and wrong and he was never afraid to tell me how he really feels.

“It doesn’t feel real. I keep thinking you’re calling me back.”

Shylah Rodden (pictured) broke almost every bone in her body in the shocking accident

Caisha revealed that her sister had worked on the show.

“Shylah was actually working there. She was helping her boyfriend at her booth that day and she was sent on a break with another employee and they decided to take a few rides to pass the time and unfortunately this happened,” she said.

While police allege that Shylah had tried to get hold of her phone, some eyewitnesses allege that she had boarded the roller coaster, which somehow dislodged her up to 30 feet (9 meters) high before plunging to the ground.

“She flew off the ride, loud bang. Followed by a scream and a very loud bang from her hitting the ground,” an eyewitness said on social media.

“I was standing right next to it when it happened. Poor girl lying in a big pool of blood because the medical response was so slow!’

“My daughter was there too and they called Crimestoppers because they felt like she had fallen off the ride too,” wrote another person.

Passengers on the ride were stranded on the roller coaster for hours after the ride was shut down.

Others on the ride were left stranded on the coaster for some time and the ride was immediately shut down

A witness, who had sat next to the roller coaster, claimed that the police’s claims that she had been on the track were incorrect.

“I didn’t see her walking or climbing the tracks at all, we saw her flying from the ride, where she landed and how she landed doesn’t match getting hit,” one woman claimed.

“Not from what we’ve seen. We were right next to the ride when it happened.’

Shortly before the accident, the witness had taken her son on the ride.

“We saw her fall off the ride, (heard) the scream and crack of her hitting the ground. My husband was one of the first on the scene. We were right next to it when it happened,” she said.

In a statement from the Victoria Police Department, investigators claimed that Shylah “may” have walked onto the track to try to retrieve a fallen phone.

“Unfortunately, the woman was subsequently found injured on the ground,” police said.

A spokesman for The Royal Melbourne Show told Daily Mail Australia it is working with authorities to establish how the tragedy happened

One passenger claimed they were forced to take their personal belongings with them on the ride.

“They forced you to take your things with you on the ride! I went on Friday and they let me take my bag and a bottle of coke on it. I was afraid I would drop something,’ the woman explained.

“You had no choice. I sat on it today and had to grab my sunglasses and hold them tight. They should have had lockers,” said another.

A spokesman for The Royal Melbourne Show told Daily Mail Australia it is working with authorities to find out how the tragedy could have happened.

Speaking to ABC Mornings host Virginia Trioli on Monday, Show CEO Brad Jenkins declined to say whether there was a fence around the ride or how high that fence was.

“I can’t say anything specific about that particular ride,” he said. ‘Over there [are] operators at each of the attractions.’

A video published on YouTube in 2021 from aboard the ride at the Sydney Royal Easter Show shows a fence around the ride that appears to be no higher than 1.5 metres.

Jenkins claimed that Shylah had gone to get her phone when she was hit.

“All the messages show that she went to pick up her phone. It’s not a malfunction or anything,” he said.

He wouldn’t say exactly how she found it.

Victoria Police and WorkSafe are investigating the incident.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact police.