The victim in an Aug. 15 ride accident at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio is "fighting for her life," according to a statement released by her family. The woman, a 44-year-old resident of Michigan identified as Rachel Hawes, was struck in the head while waiting in line by a part of the Top Thrill Dragster ride that became dislodged.
Hawes was first treated on scene then at Firelands Medical Center before being transferred to St. Vincent's Hospital in Toledo, where she's currently in intensive care with a brain injury.
“We are devastated by last weekend’s accident at Cedar Point," her family said in a statement provided to WEWS. "We want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this time. Rachel is fighting for her life, and we would ask for privacy in this difficult time."
Cedar Point is owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, which is also the parent company of Cincinnati's Kings Island.
In a Monday briefing, David Miran, the chief of amusement rides for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, said the piece that struck Hawes was an "L-shaped bracket" that broke off the back of a train, likely while the train was traveling at or near its max speed of 120 miles-per-hour. The bracket is supposed to hover over the track and relay information. On Aug. 15, it came in contact with the track and broke off.
"The object that struck the victim was a metal L-shaped bracket, known as a flag plate. It is approximately the size of an adult male's hand," Miran said. "The plates are used to communicate to the rides operating system that the car has passed a portion of the track. The plate was dislodged from the left side of the ride’s green train car and struck the victim in the head."
"Upon inspection, it was determined that half of the bolts which secured the plate to the train body had also dislodged," Miran continued.
Cedar Point inspects rides daily. The last state inspection came on May 14 and detailed required fixes including "hydraulic upgrades, a hydraulic propulsion system upgrade and repairs to black cherry car No. 2's right rear lap-bar cylinder soft repair and a lap bar cylinder creep test."
Top Thrill Dragster has been shut down for the rest of the year.
Kings Island was acquired by Cedar Fair in 2006. Since the amusement park's purchase, there have only been three high-profile incidents regarding guest injuries. Two happened on the Son Of Beast — one in 2006, when 27 riders were injured after a support beam cracked, and one in 2009, when a woman received a head injury after riding. After the 2009 incident, Son Of Beast closed indefinitely and was demolished in 2012, even though a state investigation found "no irregularities" with the ride.
In 2009, a man died after riding the now-defunct Firehawk roller coaster, which was torn down in 2018. Investigators said the ride was operating normally and do not think it contributed to the man's death.
Kings Island ended its daily operations this year on Aug. 15, but remains open the weekends of Aug. 21-22, Aug. 28-29 and Sept. 4-6 before closing up for the summer season. Next year, the park will celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Watch the Son Of Best get dismantled by Kings Island.
A version of this story was originally published by CityBeat sister paper the Cleveland Scene.
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