Freefall horror: Girl, 12, forced to jump off Australia’s highest traveling ride after major breakdown
- Girl, 12, has to jump for her life after broken ride
- Mega Drop ride at Kilcoy Show suffered seat belt failure
A 12-year-old girl detailed what it was like to jump from a fast free fall after her seat belt malfunctioned.
Holly Brown and her friend Ava were the only two riders on the Mega Drop – a ride that markets itself as Australia’s ‘longest traveling free-fall ride’ – at the Kilcoy Show on May 13.
However, due to a seatbelt malfunction, she was certain she would die if she did not jump off the ride as it took to the air.
The pre-teen jumped off when he was twenty feet above the ground and raised up, crashing into a steel platform below.
Holly had ridden the thrill ride earlier that day, but when she decided to go again, she had every thrill-seeker’s nightmare, with the seatbelt not fastened.
12-year-old girl Holly Brown has revealed the horror when both she and her friend failed to hold on properly during a free fall ride, forcing her to jump for her life as the ride began to rise (Photo: Holly Brown with her mother Katie sanzo)
The Mega Drop is described as the ‘ultimate riding experience’, dropping the rider from over 40 meters in the air and reaching speeds of 210 km/h.
‘Don’t look down!! 45 meters high, weighing 70 tons, it’s a pure adrenaline rush,” the ride describes itself.
“You go over 200 km/h in Freefall from the top with a G-force of 5.5 g!”
Holly told 9News that at first she thought it was a joke, but then realized it wasn’t the magnitude of the situation.
“I was really scared, really, really scared,” she said.
The young girl tried to reach the brace that had swung above her head, but couldn’t.
Although unlocked, her friend Ava managed to cling to hers and pressed against her chest.
All the while, the attendant was frantically trying to grab hold of the rising platform as it lifted him off the ground.
Holly said that in that moment she felt like she had to jump and break some bones or die.
“So I thought, ‘Well, I’ll jump and maybe I’ll break a few bones or I’ll go up and die,'” she recalled.
“So I thought, ‘You know what, breaking bones is better than losing my life,’ so I jumped.”
Mega Drop (pictured), a ride on the Kilcoy Show on May 13 suffered a seatbelt failure meaning the two riders were not restrained
Holly’s memory from there becomes hazy when she says the next thing she remembers was lying on her friend’s mother’s lap and feeling “excruciating pain.”
Danielle Snow witnessed the whole ordeal and comforted Holly after her jump.
She said the ride operator slipped and fell about 10 feet before yelling at Ava and Holly to jump.
Ava didn’t jump and by then was unbuckled and climbing the tower alone.
Finally, the attendant pressed the emergency stop button and brought the ride to a stop, saving Ava.
“Ava thought Holly had died,” Mrs. Snow said.
“Because she jumped from the height (Holly) … just assumed she would have died, that she wouldn’t have survived.”
Ava was trapped for 15 minutes during the ride as medical personnel rushed to Holly’s aid below before returning Ava safely to the ground.
Holly suffered a lateral malleolus fracture in her right foot and will be getting scans to see if any further damage has been done.
A spokesperson for the Mega Drop ride told Daily Mail Australia the ride would not be in operation as long as authorities are investigating the incident.
Queensland Workplace Health and Safety is investigating what happened.