Man Suffers Spinal Cord Injury On Rollercoaster At Myrtle Beach Amusement Park

We have all heard stories about horrific theme park accidents, but we mentally file them away in our Florida Man archives.  Everyone knows that the Magic Kingdom boat rides chop off guest’s fingers on the regular, despite warnings that guests keep their hands inside the boat at all times.  Where else but Florida does an animatronic dinosaur hatch from an egg and immediately strike a child on the chin?  Of course the incident where a teen fell to his death from an amusement park ride because his harness was not properly secured happened in Florida.  Given South Carolina’s reputation for having all the sunshine of Florida and a tiny fraction of the chaos, it stands to reason that South Carolina’s amusement park rides would be tamer, or at least more reliable.  Amusement park accidents can happen anywhere when the rides are not properly maintained, and customers who get injured in these accidents have the right to seek damages from the amusement park that failed to prevent the accident.  A Columbia premises liability lawyer can help you if you have suffered injuries in a preventable accident at an amusement park.

Theme Park Guest Becomes Quadriplegic During Rollercoaster Ride

In the summer of 2021, Kul Sannyashi and his wife Gangia Adhikari visited the Family Kingdom amusement park in Myrtle Beach.  Sannyashi rode the Swamp Fox, a wooden rollercoaster that has been in continuous operation at the park since 1966.  In recent years, other guests have complained that the rollercoaster is poorly maintained, causing guests to suffer back pain after riding.  At least one customer got injured badly enough by a bumpy ride on the Swamp Fox in 2018 that she sued Family Kingdom for premises liability, but none of the previous injuries were nearly as catastrophic as what happened to Sannyashi.

When Sannyashi got on the ride, nothing seemed to be amiss with his seat or safety harness, but by the time the ride ended, he had suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down, despite that he was not ejected from the ride.  By 2024, Sannyashi and Adhikari had each filed a separate premises liability lawsuit against Family Kingdom and several other parties associated with the Swamp Fox ride.  Since they were business invitees, premises liability laws state that theme parks are responsible for inspecting and maintaining rides in order to prevent accidental injuries.  Since Family Kingdom is located in South Carolina, the South Carolina courts have jurisdiction to rule on lawsuits related to accidents that happen there.  Thus, even though Sannyashi and Adhikari live in North Carolina, they filed the lawsuit in South Carolina.

Let Us Help You Today

The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you if you have been injured in a preventable accident on an amusement park ride while you were visiting South Carolina.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Sources:

lawandcrime.com/lawsuit/he-gets-on-fine-and-then-gets-off-as-a-quadriplegic-wooden-rollercoaster-paralyzes-man-lawsuit-claims/

cbs42.com/news/national/myrtle-beach-rollercoaster-left-man-paralyzed-lawsuit-claims/