Photo: @kalieden86 / TikTok
It was a close call.
By Megan Quinn — Written on Feb 07, 2023
Roller coasters can be frightening enough with sudden drops and sharp turns. They can be even scarier when the safety harnesses designed to keep riders inside the vehicle fail to work correctly.
One mother recorded the harrowing moment her daughter nearly fell out of the ride which has viewers’ hearts beating out of their chests.
The little girl started to slip out of her seat and safety bar shortly after the ride took off.
Kali Eden’s five-year-old daughter was excited to ride her first big roller coaster, the Scorpion, at Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay while on vacation.
Her mother decided to capture the moment on film to save the memory forever. However, nothing could have prepared her for what she wound up recording.
The little girl is ecstatic as the roller coaster climbs up the lift hill. “Are you ready?” Kali asks her daughter. “Yea!” she yells enthusiastically.
As it descends down its first big drop and turns sharply, the girl’s face quickly changes from excited to petrified as she struggles to remain and her seat and slips underneath the safety bar across her lap.
The video suddenly ends with Kali throwing her arm across her daughter to prevent her from falling out of the ride.
“Rollercoaster ride from h–l,” the mother captioned the video, which has garnered over 27 million views.
TikTok users could not believe what they saw.
“That’s scary.. no way they [the park] should’ve allowed that,” one user wrote.
“Just because they are tall enough doesn’t mean they are BIG enough! Some rides are just NOT it! Thank you for sharing!!!” another user commented.
“How on earth did the park determine that was safe at her size?” another user questioned.
Kali posted a follow-up video detailing the heartstopping incident.
She begins by assuring viewers that her daughter is okay and is doing well following the ride.
The little girl is the youngest of three siblings and always wants to participate in the “big kid” rides including large roller coasters. Unfortunately, Kali says that her daughter’s height and size prohibit her from riding most roller coasters for safety reasons.
When she finally found a ride where she met the height requirement, she wasted no time getting in line!
“Looking back, this is definitely a learning lesson for myself,” the mother admits. “I assume that everything’s safe and she’s gonna be fine.”
Kali says that after the ride’s first drop, her daughter passed out and was unable to hold herself up. She began to slip through her lap bar.
Kali quickly used her arm and her leg to bar her daughter inside the ride vehicle before she came to. “I was so terrified in that moment that if I wasn’t holding onto her, she was gonna fall out and die,” she says.
The ride has been closed for investigation.
Kali shared in a follow-up video that she received a call from the Vice President of Operations at Busch Gardens informing her that the Scorpion roller coaster has been temporarily shut down to undergo safety regulations.
The mother revealed that she is thrilled that the matter is being taken seriously and that hopefully, they will reopen the ride with seatbelts along with improved lap bars.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.