Army amputee thrown from NY roller coaster, dies

[PoliticAverse]

Source: Associated Press

DARIEN, N.Y. (AP) — An investigation is under way into a roller coaster accident in upstate New York that killed a U.S. Army veteran who had been trying to rebuild his life after losing both legs in Iraq.

Teams of inspectors on Saturday were examining the Ride of Steel coaster at the Darien Lake Theme Park Resort, about 30 miles east of Buffalo.

Sgt. James Thomas Hackemer, 29, was ejected from the 208-foot-tall ride early Friday evening, after climbing aboard during an outing with family and friends.

The wounded veteran was missing all of his left leg and most of his right one, as well as part of a hip, and had only recently returned for good to his parents' home in Gowanda following years in and out of rehabilitation at hospitals around the northeast U.S.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/army-amputee-thrown-ny-roller-coaster-dies-044044948.html

[PoliticAverse]

1. UK Daily Mail version of the story...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2012832/Darien-Lake-Iraq-war-veteran-James-Hackemer-dies-roller-coaster-fall.html

[blaze]

6. Thank you for that link

It shows some nice shots of Hackemer... and some warm and heartfelt comments from his mother.

RIP

[ejpoeta]

2. yeah, i was trying to get info from my daughter about the ride yesterday.

how the restraints work. stuff like that. she went on it once but says it's too fast for her. she doesn't like it. It is awful! This is, I guess, the third major incident on this ride. The first being the guy who was thrown off of it because he was too big for the ride. He was injured. Not sure about the second one. That was discussed yeserday on our local stations facebook page as they had asked what was going on at darien lake. All anyone knew for sure was cops had been called to the park. It is very sad day.

[PoliticAverse]

4. I guess eventually they'll have to either change the speed of the ride or add shoulder restraints.

[21st Century FDR]

3. Sounds like he should have never been allowed on the coaster to begin with.

If the ride's safety mechanism is a bar that goes across your legs, then how would it possibly secure a man who doesn't HAVE legs? The theme park is definitely responsible for the safety of the "passengers" on the ride. I don't think I've ever been on a roller coaster where there wasn't at least a 2 second check to see if the safety bar was secure.

I suppose Sgt. Hackemer should have known better, but after surviving a war and double amputation, what's left to fear, right?

Stupid fucking tragedy all around (just like the useless war that took his legs)

[indepat]

5. Junior's, (now BHO's) wars just keep giving and giving and will for generations

to come. :cry: :patriot:

[Ian David]

7. "Passengers are held in by a bar that sits across their legs."

<snip>

"That's the only one that gives you a scare. I mean, it does lift you out of your seat," said Liz Blest, 33, of Buffalo, who was staying at a campground next to the amusement park on a family trip.

Passengers are held in by a bar that sits across their legs.

More:
http://news.yahoo.com/army-amputee-thrown-ny-roller-coaster-dies-044044948.html

I think I may have found the problem.

[Chemisse]

8. If he was wearing his artificial legs the park staff would not have realized he

was vulnerable.

The poor guy.

[Ian David]

10. Very good point. n/t

[LisaL]

11. Yes, I don't think it's that hard to figure out what went wrong.

I wonder why he was allowed on a roller coaster that uses a bar across legs to restrain passengers.

[AtheistCrusader]

12. If he was wearing pants, likely the operators of the ride had no idea.

Even if he was wearing shorts, would the average minimum wage ride operator think to ask if the artificial legs could come off the person wearing them? Some people might even consider the question rude.

[tpsbmam]

13. Here's a picture of him in shorts...

Still think the ride operator wouldn't notice? And he did have his right leg intact to his knee.

[RamboLiberal]

19. I read he went to the park in a wheelchair

And had to be helped on to ride.

[sakabatou]

14. Only a lap? New rollercoasters are designed for more safety

[southernyankeebelle]

9. OMG, what hell his family and friends must be feeling. Nothing we can say would

make a difference.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JI7]

16. very sad

[Trajan]

17. No legs - no restraint ....

This should have been obvious to everyone ....

Sad ...... what a waste of a life ....

[TheMadMonk]

18. Right up there with "Hey youse guys! Watch this!" is...

..."I've got a right and you can't stop me."

I've done a little carnie work in my time and operator error/ride fault is almost never the reason a rider gets hurt.

These machines are built with the specific intent of appearing to be dangerous/death defying, but because it's the general public risking faux danger and defying erzatz death, a great deal of care is taken to ensure that it is ONLY ever an appearance.

Almost all injuries and deaths associated with carnival rides are contributed to by one or more of the riders and as often as not, it's a result of direct defiance of instructions by the operator.

[Dark]

20. Thank you for your service sir. RIP

n/t