Dad speaks out after 8-year-old son falls off ride at fair
A father in Virginia is speaking out after his 8-year-old son fell off a ride at a local fair last month and fractured his right foot.
Matthew Nungent of Shenandoah County said he was at the State Fair of Virginia with his wife and their two children Sept. 29 when his 8-year-old son asked to go on a ride called "The Storm."
Nungent told ABC News he was watching the ride from outside the gate when he noticed something was wrong.
"When it came around for probably the second time, I noticed that the seat my son was in was empty," said Nungent, who asked that his son's name not be used to help protect his privacy. "And I could see from the girl sitting across from him, I could see from her expression that something had happened."
Nungent described the ride as having multiple passenger carts that move around each other as they move in a circle.
"They go in a circle but when you're going around, they kind of cut through the middle, and they take really sharp turns," Nungent said.
He added that someone on the ride said his son appeared to have been thrown off when the ride made a sharp turn.
Once he saw his son was missing, Nungent said he called out for the ride operator to stop the ride, and then ultimately jumped over the fence when he couldn't get the operator's attention.
Nungent, who works as a firefighter, said as he was running towards the ride, the operator stopped it. Nungent kept running to retrieve his son.
"I expected the worst when I got there," he said. "Just the fact that [my son] was crying and awake was surprising to me. I scooped him up and noticed the laceration on the back of his leg was pretty severe."
Nungent said he took his son to the fair's medical tent. From there, he rode with this son by ambulance to a local hospital.
At the hospital, Nungent said his son was diagnosed with a fracture in his right foot and was put under anesthesia while doctors closed a laceration in one leg. He said his son also suffered bruises on his back and burns on his legs.
Nungent said his son, a second grade student, is now back in school but still recovering both physically and emotionally. "The last couple of days he's asked a lot of questions," Nungent said.
Following the incident, the ride was closed for the day and an inspection of the ride was launched by the Planning & Building Department of Caroline County, where the State Fair of Virginia is held.
According to a copy of the incident report viewed by ABC News, the inspection found that "there were no mechanical and/or operator errors that did not comply with the manufacturer's specifications or the governing code."
A spokesperson for the State Fair of Virginia told ABC News in a statement, "On Friday, Sept. 29, a ride incident was reported on the State Fair of Virginia's midway. As mandated by the commonwealth of Virginia, protocols outlined in state code 13vac5-31-85 were followed."
"Investigations were conducted by the Virginia State Police, the on-site amusement ride inspector and the building official and lead amusement ride authority for Caroline County," the statement continued. "The investigation produced no evidence of ride malfunction or negligence on the part of the ride operator."
The boy met the ride’s height requirement. It’s unclear how he fell out.
According to the spokesperson, rides at the state fair are inspected upon setup by the midway contractor, before opening day by Caroline County officials, and are checked again daily by "an independent, professional state-certified inspector."
Stephanie Ryan and David Silek, Nungent's attorneys, said they are not sure exactly how his son's injury happened. Nungent noted that his son told him the ride operator checked prior to the ride that the safety bar on his cart was in place.
They said Nungent is sharing his family's story in hopes that another child doesn't suffer the same fate as his son.
"He wants to make sure that the ride operators are properly trained and properly remain vigilant so that it doesn't take a parent leaping over the gate and rushing the ride before the operator realizes that a terrible accident has happened," said Ryan, later adding, "I think the family really wants to focus their efforts on [their son] fully recovering but also getting the word out."
