An Ohio woman said her 10-year-old daughter was left paralyzed after going on a ride at an Ohio county fair. Mandy Triplett said her daughter, Kylie Richards, complained about back pain after riding the Orbiter, a high-speed thrill ride, last month at the Allen County Fair in Lima, Ohio. Doctors said she suffered a spinal stroke injury.
We spoke with Triplett and Richards at Nationwide Children’s Hospital where she’s currently being treated.
Triplett said doctors don’t know if Richards will ever walk again. While she’s regained some use of her arms and hands, she remains paralyzed from the waist down. After launching our NBC4 investigation “Inspecting the Inspectors” more than a year ago after the fatal Fireball accident at the Ohio State Fair, we wanted to know how something like this could happen.
Triplett said the Allen County Fair is a summer tradition for her family.
“We go to this you know fair for family time and great time and now it’s turned into a situation that she might not ever be able to walk again and that’s… that’s like heartbreaking right now,” said Triplett.
A day of fun, food, and rides turned into a nightmare.
“She was on the ride, The Orbiter, and she was on it by herself and she got off immediately and started complaining that her back was hurting her,” said Triplett.
“My back started to hurt, then I fell a couple minutes later, then I heard a pop and I kept dropping,” said Richards.
An ambulance rushed Richards to Nationwide Children’s Hospital from Lima, Ohio.
Triplett said the diagnosis from doctors was a spinal stroke injury.
“The doctors said it’s a severe case of whiplash,” she said. “They just told us right now it’s a long road ahead of us.”
How could a child get on a ride and end up paralyzed?
We asked the Ohio Department of Agriculture for answers. It’s in charge of inspecting and permitting all rides in Ohio. It said acting out of an abundance of caution, an ODA inspector performed a supplemental inspection of the Orbiter ride and found it operated according to manufacturer’s specifications.
It told me it’s reviewing what happened and said its legal department is processing our request for supplemental inspection reports. We want to know – did this ride have any problems in the past?
Triplett said she doesn’t think the ride operator should have allowed Richards to ride alone.
“I think what happened with her being little and nobody was in the seat with her, she got tossed from side to side, and that’s what caused it,” said Triplett.
We’ve learned an Indiana based ride company, Poor Jack Amusements, was the ride operator at the fair. We are waiting for a response from the company about whether or not riders are allowed to ride alone.
Richards, who plays basketball, volleyball, and softball said she’s ready to get back to school, playing sports, and riding her bike.
“Get to feeling better so I can walk again,” said Richards. “Go jogging with my dad.”
Triplett said she’s taking this unexpected ride one day at a time.
“We’re strong and we’ll get through this and we got each other and that’s all we need,” said Triplett.
Richards loves cards. She’s received more than 500 so far during her three weeks in the hospital and they really brighten her day. If you’d like to send her a card, click this link: https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/greeting-card Richards is in Room H9B 35. You will need this information to fill out an online card that is printed and delivered to her at the hospital.