Read the catastrophic list of injuries roller coaster girl Shylah Rodden suffered in horrific Royal Show tragedy – as new details emerge of her $3million lawsuit against legendary carnie family

The young woman who was struck by a rollercoaster as she reached for her phone has revealed the full extent of the devastating injuries she suffered as she takes legal action against the family business that operated the ride.

Shylah Rodden, now 29, has filed a civil action in the County Court of Victoria against Chants Amusements, owners of the Rebel Coaster that hit her during the 2022 Melbourne Royal Show.

Mrs Rodden was lucky not to die in the shocking incident, which saw her upper body and head smashed into pieces.

A list of 31 injuries included in a statement of claim filed with the court makes for gripping reading.

These included fractures of the skull, cerebral hemorrhages, injuries to the left carotid and right vertebral arteries, abdominal injuries, damage to the liver and small intestine, fractures to the thoracic spine (area from the neck to the bottom of the rib cage ), a broken right wrist, a broken left arm, pelvic fractures, a broken right ankle, broken left hand, bleeding in the right eye, chest injuries, multiple broken ribs and psychological injuries.

But after a nearly two-year investigation, workplace watchdog WorkSafe Victoria decided not to charge Chants or the Melbourne Royal Show with anything.

Ms. Rodden’s lawyer, Sharlene Mehta of Arnold Thomas & Becker, declined to comment on the civil suit on Monday.

But a 16-page document filed with the court claims Chants Amusements was solely responsible for Ms Rodden’s injuries.

‘The damage suffered by (Ms Rodden) arose because the defendant breached the duty owed to her by failing to ensure that (she) would not be injured or suffer damage as a result of the condition of the premises or by things done or omitted to be done in relation to the state,” the court was told.

One of the allegations is that Chant’s staff should have stopped Ms Rodden from jumping onto the tracks to retrieve her phone after she dropped it during the ride.

Ms Rodden had re-boarded the ride from the arrival point, which lawyers said could have been better fenced, among other things.

Chants Amusements did not respond to an inquiry from Daily Mail Australia on Monday.

It can be revealed that the company is a family business managed by Les ‘Chippa’ Chant and Cassie Evans.

Mr. Chant, a father of five who is now in his late 40s, has been a showman all his life.

Chants Amusements has been in business for more than 30 years and Mr. Chant is known nationwide as one of the largest fairground operators.

“Some people just choose to do it as a way of life and they live week to week and enjoy the campfire, a few beers and a barbecue and they just get by,” Mr Chant told the newspaper. Everyday Liberal just a few years ago.

“But other people are trying to do it in a bigger way. I have children in boarding schools and private schools. I have to make more trips because I have higher bills to pay.”

Mr Chant said showmen like him thrived on “seeing children enjoying themselves”.

“We are here to create fun and memories for families,” he said at the time.

The company is now facing $3 million in damages. Ms Rodden’s lawyers claim this would have been the amount she would have earned working in community services until retirement if she had gotten a job and not gotten on the roller coaster.

According to court documents, at the time of the incident, Ms Rodden was studying a Certificate IV in ‘Alcohol and Other Drugs’ and was unemployed.

In August, Daily Mail Australia revealed Ms Rodden had allegedly angrily lashed out at Chants operators who warned her not to pick up her phone moments before she was punched.

Well-placed sources closely involved in the WorkSafe investigation told Daily Mail Australia that Ms Rodden appeared to be the main cause of the tragedy.

Ms Rodden had previously worked at a lollipop stand on the show when she and a friend took a ride on the rollercoaster during a break.

Witnesses reportedly told Worksafe investigators that Ms Rodden appeared disoriented when she dropped her phone and tried to retrieve it from under the tracks.

The source claimed that ride operators told Ms Rodden they would stop the ride so she could collect her phone, but she had to wait up to 30 minutes before being allowed into the area.

“It’s fair to say she had something to say to the operator when he told her to wait half an hour, so that was the type of behavior the operator faced,” the source said.

“She really didn’t want to wait and took it into her own hands not to.”

The investigation showed that the operators have taken all precautions to ensure the safety of show visitors.

‘They all did that. They followed their systems, they followed the processes that they put in place,” the source said.

‘The workers followed their training there as they were instructed and that is where the obligations lie.

“That’s where any charges the authority might impose would be and have nothing to do with the decisions one person made to circumvent the systems and processes put in place by the (operator).”

The ride’s operator was already familiar with these processes, given the number of items routinely dropped from the ride, the source said.

This system does not ensure that the journey is stopped every time a customer warns the driver.

“With a roller coaster, things like that happen all the time,” they added.

“Stuff literally falls out of people’s pockets every time the ride goes around, so they have a system in place to make sure people can get it back if something goes down.

“They keep the ride going because they can’t stop it every time, otherwise they would be doing it all day.

“They have set times where they can close it and let people pick up their stuff. [But] she decided not to wait and ultimately suffered the consequences.”

Ms Rodden’s legal action is being led by Ms Rodden’s mother and legal guardian Kylie Rodden, who is charged with her daughter’s care.