NEWS: Deposition details one accident on Cajun Cliffhanger
Anthony
http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intID=37141158)
By Bob Susnjara Daily Herald Staff Writer
Six years have passed since her accident, but a Milwaukee woman still
vividly recalls how it took nearly an hour for an ambulance to be called
after her feet were crushed and bloodied while riding the Cajun
Cliffhanger at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee.
Details about Adrienne Loduha's thrill ride accident have become public
after she answered questions last month for a deposition that's part of
a pending lawsuit against the amusement park. Loduha, 24, was under oath
when Chicago attorney Devon C. Bruce inquired about the May 8, 1995,
accident.
The pending lawsuit against Six Flags involves Bruce's client,
12-year-old Kati Konstantaras of McHenry, who was on the Cajun
Cliffhanger July 19, 2000, when her right foot was crushed by the ride's
floor and wall.
Bruce contends Six Flags, knowing of the previous incidents cited in the
internal reports, should have fixed the ride long before Konstantaras
was injured.
Six Flags internal documents, which became public through an order
issued by Lake County Circuit Judge John Goshgarian, show at least 13
mishaps, injuries or safety concerns involving the ride were reported by
customers since 1993.
Loduha is the first of those patrons to discuss her accident in depth
for the pending lawsuit.
Six Flags stopped operating the Cajun Cliffhanger after the last
accident in July 2000.
Michelle Hoffman, a Six Flags spokeswoman, declined to discuss Loduha's
accident.
Six Flags attorney Amanda J. Weston, who was present for Loduha's
deposition, also declined to comment.
"We just don't want to try this case in the press," Hoffman said.
"Depositions will be made, of course."
Riders on the Cajun Cliffhanger line up against its cylindrical interior
and are spun around at a high speed. While it rotates, the floor drops
out from under riders and the centrifugal force presses them against the
wall.
What happened to Loduha in 1995 was similar to how Konstantaras was
injured five years later, Bruce said. For example, he said, in both
cases it took workers at least 25 minutes to free the trapped riders.
In her deposition, Loduha said her feet became trapped when they slipped
into a gap between the ride's wall and floor. She said she suffered for
at least 25 minutes before two park employees crawled on top of the
ride, ripped a screen and jumped down to assist her.
Workers first used a crowbar in an unsuccessful effort to free her feet.
In her deposition, Loduha said, the floor moved when the men walked on
it during the rescue attempt, "thus pinching and crushing my feet
further."
The workers then cut her canvas tennis shoes in another failed attempt
to gently free her, Loduha said. The workers wound up yanking her out of
the ride.
"That was probably the worst of it," said Loduha, who was 17 at the
time.
Six Flags employees did not immediately call a Gurnee fire department
ambulance after removing Loduha from the ride, according to the
deposition.
Instead, Loduha said in her testimony that she was placed in a
wheelchair and given a cup of water when she arrived at the park's
first-aid center.
"I was shaking," Loduha said. "And they gave me one Tylenol."
"I was there about 30 minutes until the ambulance came," she said.
Loduha said the ambulance took her to a local hospital. She was treated
for several broken toes, two fractured toes and five toenails that were
torn off, according to court documents.
Having already reached an undisclosed lawsuit settlement with Six Flags,
Loduha said there is no financial incentive for her to now discuss her
accident .
Despite getting a clean bill of health from state ride inspectors in
September 2000, it's unknown if the Cajun Cliffhanger will reopen.
Loduha says the Cajun Cliffhanger should have been closed for good after
she was hurt on the ride.
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Anthony <=> mad.co...@gte.net <=>
http://wildfire.moo.net/~coast --->>>
Founder of the movement to remove "queue line"
from enthusiasts' version of the English language