PLAINFIELD FEST — A woman was hurt Thursday after falling from a carnival ride during a pre-Plainfield Fest private event for individuals with special needs. At around 6 p.m., Plainfield police and firefighters responded to a malfunction on a “small roller coaster ride.” The private carnival event was from 6 to 7:45 p.m. at the carnival grounds at Plainfield Central High School.
Officials said a woman who fell five to six feet from the ride was transported to an area hospital and all other riders refused treatment, but a man who was on the roller coaster with his wife and two daughters said he was also hurt in the incident.
Justin Williams of Joliet said he suffered a back injury during the roller coaster mishap and reported it to police and fire officials, as well as carnival management. Williams said he was given an ice pack and a fire department medic asked him if he wanted to wait for an ambulance ride to the emergency room — but he declined, preferring to have his wife drive him.
” I was given a golf-cart ride to my van and helped into the passenger side and my wife drove me directly to Silver Cross in New Lenox for treatment,” Williams told Patch in an email. “I spent most of the night there and was treated for soft-tissue injury (back/ neck spasms, sciatic nerve inflammation) that were caused by the accident on the ride.”
He said his girls, ages 7 and 10, are both on the autism spectrum. “So we were excited to attend the fest’s special needs event,” Williams said.
Police said the Iron Dragon ride had a broken track and the rear car of the ride came off the track. The carnival is operated by North American Midway Entertainment. Plainfield Fire Chief Jon Stratton said the kiddie coaster was in motion when it shifted and the rear car came halfway off the track, causing the woman to fall five to six feet to the ground.
Stratton said 12 people — six children and six adults — were on the ride at the time of the incident. Firefighters immediately began taking people off the ride, starting with the kids, using a ladder to reach some of them.
Plainfield firefighters transported the woman to an area hospital with minor injuries. According to Stratton, she complained of head and back pain.
The Illinois Department of Labor, Amusement Ride and Attraction Safety Division was contacted and responded to the scene to investigate the incident on Thursday evening.
Stratton said the ride will not reopen and will be dismantled before the fest reopens on Friday once inspection is completed.
The Plainfield incident was one of two carnival accidents Thursday in the suburbs. A child was also injured when two rides collided at a parish carnival in Midlothian.
Plainfield Fest is set to kick off Friday in downtown Plainfield.