A girl was saved by a couple when they managed to keep her in a roller coaster seat after its restraints failed – and the heroic action was captured on camera.
The youngster’s belt had come undone during the first hill of the Mama ride, which travels up to 75mph, at the Worlds of Fun park in Kansas City.
Chris and Cassie Evins said they heard ‘blood-curdling’ screams coming from the seat behind them on October 11.
Chris said the shrieks were ‘like I’ve never heard before,’ and that he ‘assumed it was her first time on the ride.’
But when the girl said her seatbelt had come undone, the couple leapt into action and reached over to keep her inside.
Chris told KCTV5: ‘I had looped my arm underneath her lap bar, which had a pretty big gap between her and the lap bar. So at this point, I’m seeing a huge space, no seatbelt.
‘I looped my arm underneath the lap bar, and I grabbed a hold of her wrist. My wife was pushing down on her legs.’
The couple have season tickets to Worlds of Fun, so they are familiar with the Mamba, which stands at 208 feet at its highest point, according to the park’s website.
As the couple held on to the panicked girl, they knew the roller coaster had upcoming hills and turns which could launch her out of the unsecured seat.
This photo taken by the Mamba roller coaster’s camera captured the moment couple Chris and Cassie Evins held onto a girl in the seat behind them whose seatbelt had come loose
The Evinses have season tickets to Worlds of Fun, so they were familiar with the Mamba, which helped them anticipate turns and hills so they could more effectively keep the girl in her seat
The Mamba stands at a daunting 208 ft at its highest point, which is the first hill (pictured)
Chris said that in anticipation, he ‘shifted our positions to, instead of hold her, to push down on her whole body to keep her from coming out of the seat while we’re going over those hills.’
The Evinses’s quick thinking likely saved the girl, as they were able to keep her secured until the ride ended.
The roller coaster camera which usually captures riders’ screams of amusement documented the much more serious and terrified screams of the Evinses and the girl they were helping.
In the photo, Chris and Cassie can be seen reaching into the seat behind them with distraught looks, and the girl can be seen bent forward with a petrified expression on her scrunched face.
The couple immediately reported the incident to the park, who assured them the ride was closed for inspection for the remainder of the day.
A Worlds of Fun spokesman told the Daily Mail: ‘The safety of our guests and team members is a top priority. Following the report of a guest concern on the ride several weeks ago, our team immediately closed the ride and completed a thorough inspection before reopening it that evening.
‘The ride is equipped with a multi-layered restraint system, with lap bars being the primary restraint. The seat belts serve as a secondary restraint.
‘Throughout multiple inspections, there was no evidence of restraint failure in the lap bar system or the buckles on any seat belts during any of the ride inspections and the ride has operated safely since the initial concern was raised.’
The Evinses quick thinking likely saved the girl, as they were able to keep her in the seat until the ride was over
The Mamba can reach speeds up to 75 miles per hour, and it has a dual restraint system of a lap bar and seatbelt
A Worlds of Fun spokesman emphasized that the lap bars on the Mamba were found to be fully functional in multiple inspections
Chris said: ‘What if it had been somebody else in our seats? What if it was others, her friends? You know, they could have had a drastically different outcome.’
The Evinses said that they were separated from the girl and were not able to speak with her after helping. They also said they are trying to connect with the family.
The Mamba’s last inspection prior to the close call was on April 25. A series of inspections since the girl’s seat belt failure took place on the same day and following days.
Mike O’Connell, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, told the Kansas City Star that one of those inspections on October 30 determined that several belts on the ride were found to be not working properly.
The park spokesman said: ‘On Thursday, the ride underwent a comprehensive safety review by the Fire Marshall.
‘Again, the lap bars and buckles were found fully functional, and we implemented slight modifications to a number of seat belts to ensure they met or exceeded all applicable safety standards before the ride opened to guests that evening.’
