A North Carolina fair worker who was trying to rescue two terrified children from a broken Ferris wheel in North Carolina fell from the ride, in an incident that was captured on dramatic cellphone video.
Footage shot by a guest at the Central Carolina Fair at around 9.45pm on Friday shows the unnamed fair worker climbing up the Ferris wheel after one of the gondola cars began to tilt out of its normal position.
Two boys, five-year-old Hunter Roach and seven-year-old Carlos Kindle, were inside the faulty gondola car.
A worker at the Central Carolina Fair slipped and fell while trying to fix a malfunctioning Ferris wheel Friday, in an incident that was caught on video (pictured)
This screenshot from a cellphone video recorded by fair goer Brittney Smith shows the moment the work lost his balance while trying to help two boys stranded on the ride
The employee was trying to dislodge the gondola when he lost his grip and banged his body on the ride (left and right)
When the worker dislodged the car, he lost his balance and fell, banging his body on the ride.
The Central Carolina Fair in Greensboro said in a statement Saturday that the worker was taken to a hospital to be treated for a broken finger. He was later released, as the station WDRB reported.
Brittney Smith, 28, a fair goer from High Point, North Carolina, shot the dramatic video capturing the dramatic moment the fair worker lost his grip and fell to the ground.
She told ABC News the young occupants of the malfunctioning Ferris wheel carriage were holding onto each other, ‘trying to protect one another from failing out.’
She described the children as looking ‘pretty shaken’ after they were pulled to safety from the ride.
Speaking to the station WFMY on Saturday, Brenda Kindle and Angela Roach said they and thei sons, Carlos and Hunter, were still shaken from the Ferris wheel debacle, which left the two young friends stranded inside a gondola car that was leaning at an almost 90-degree angle.
‘All you can hear is your seven-year-old child screaming and saying someone help us please someone help us. They are crying at the top of their lungs,’ said Kindle. ‘That was the most traumatic experience for me as a mother. I felt helpless that I couldn’t do anything at all.’
The impact made the stuck gondola car swing even harder, sending the boys inside flying backwards
The worker suffered a broken finger as a result of his dramatic fall
Boys speak out: Hunter Roach, 5 (left), and Carlos White, 7 (right), were safely removed from the Ferris wheel after the scary incident
Carlos White said the worker fell trying to help them, which caused their gondola car to swing even harder and sent him and his friend flying backwards.
‘I thought we were gonna die,’ the boy said.
Both boys were eventually removed from the ride and taken to a hospital as a precaution. The seven-year-old was left with a bump on his head and the five-year-old sustained some minor bruises.
Carlos said going forward, he will be staying away from fair rides, unless its bumper cars.
According to fair organizers, the operator of the ride ‘followed safety procedures to safely unload all passengers.’
The ride, operated by Michael’s Amusement, was inspected by state officials and approved for future use. The fair wrapped up on Sunday.
A video shot by another witness from a different angle shows an employee climbing the ride after the worker’s fall and paramedics rushing to the scene