Cruel blow in fundraiser for Melbourne rollercoaster victim Shylah Rodden
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A fundraiser set up to help roller coaster victim Shylah Rodden has been brutally repulsed as she faces a long and costly recovery from horrific injuries.
Daily Mail Australia can be a GoFundMe founded by one of Shylah’s closest friends on September 28, has only received $500 from its $20,000 goal.
The sad result is another blow to the 26-year-old, who faces a life of hardship after suffering horrific head injuries in the accident just four days earlier.
Shylah Rodden (pictured) suffered horrific injuries when he was hit and dragged by a roller coaster
A fundraiser aimed at helping Shylah Rodden has raised just $500
On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Royal Melbourne Hospital confirmed that Shylah’s condition was now classified as serious rather than critical.
But her prospects of ever living a normal life again are nil to impossible.
The fundraiser, set up by Sylvia Dess, a friend of Shylah, makes no mention of how the money would be spent.
Specific details about Shylah’s condition also remain a public mystery, with her family asking for privacy as they come to terms with the ordeal.
On the day she was hit by the roller coaster, Shylah was working in a friend’s booth at the Melbourne Royal Show.
The pair had been on a hiatus when they decided to take a few rides to pass the time.
It is clear that Shylah dropped her phone while on the roller coaster and police believe she walked on the tracks of the high-speed ride to retrieve the device.
Shocking footage released via a tacky TikTok video showed the moment of impact.
Shylah’s father told Daily Mail Australia at the time that his daughter had suffered life-changing injuries.
‘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.”
Gruesome footage shows Shylah Rodden (pictured in black) moments from being hit by the Rebel Coaster during the Melbourne Royal show on September 24
Shylah Rodden’s condition is now listed as serious rather than critical
Now weeks after the accident, vicious trolls continue to mock and taunt Shylah and her family via social media.
Some trolls have been bold enough to post critical comments directly on Mr Rodden’s own Facebook page.
Most of the comments that appear under news articles about the accident are littered with harsh judgments from unsympathetic keyboard warriors.
Avoiding her fundraiser is the latest insult to Shylah and her family, who must spend the rest of their lives caring for their badly injured daughter.
Last week, the family was forced to take legal action in the County Court of Victoria over injuries sustained by the 26-year-old in a traffic accident in January 2018.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Lalor man Anthony Bright has been listed as the defendant in the civil suit.
Ms Rodden’s family filed a subpoena to protect her rights from the 2018 incident, claiming damages for injuries sustained in a transport accident resulting from ‘Mr Bright’s negligence, on or about January 29 of that year’ .
Mr Bright can be seen on social media with Ms Rodden in 2015, where the pair seemed at ease together.
Shylah Rodden (left) and Anthony Bright in 2015. Mr Bright has been listed as the defendant in a civil suit.
Shylah Rodden is fighting for life after being thrown 30 feet into the air when she was hit by a roller coaster at the Royal Melbourne Show last Sunday
On Friday, Arnold Thomas and Becker, practice manager Aki Munir, said Ms Rodden had been seriously injured by the “defendant’s negligence”.
“It (the action) concerns a transport accident and she sustained a number of significant injuries in that accident,” Ms Munir told the… Herald sun.
“The purpose of filing the subpoena is to preserve her rights should anything happen to her.”
Ms Munir also said Ms Rodden’s family could take legal action against the Melbourne Royal Show and the operators of the Rebel Coaster ride for negligence.
Police revealed last week that the roller coaster was traveling at 70 km/h when it was hit.
Ms Rodden had to learn to walk again after being involved in a horror crash in January 2021 when she overturned a car on Melbourne’s Western Ring Road after being plowed into a truck and car.
She was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the car onto the road.
The young woman survived the crash but needed significant rehabilitation to get back on her feet and with the support of her supportive parents, she managed to walk again.
Her grueling road to recovery came after another serious car accident in 2019.
A spokeswoman for the Melbourne Royal Show claimed that ‘the safety and well-being of our visitors to the show remains our number one priority’.
The safety watchdog WorkSafe is in the process of determining whether that claim is true.
The roller coaster that hit her reopened just days after the sickening incident.
Show management declined to comment on whether any new safety procedures had been adopted in the aftermath.
Ms Rodden was involved in three other accidents, including a serious car accident in February 2019, and another in which she overturned her car after hitting a truck in January 2021.
Mr Rodden (pictured) has been involved in three separate road accidents, in 2018, 2019 and 202
A spokeswoman for the Melbourne Royal Show claimed that ‘the safety and well-being of our visitors to the show remains our number one priority’ (pictured, the Royal Melbourne Show)