By Cara Sulieman
AN eight-year-old girl narrowly cheated death when she was thrown 30 feet from a fairground ride.
Nicole Wilson, from Edinburgh, is still recovering at the city’s Sick Kids Hospital after breaking her pelvis when the slipped under the safety harness on the Extreme ride.
Her father, Neil, watched in horror as she flew through the air and hit an advertising board at the popular fairground at Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh.
He said: “I checked Nicole was tall enough for the ride against the chart and she was clearly above the 1.3m cut-off mark.
“Flying through the air”
“Two guys strapped her in and it started. For a minute or two, everything seemed fine.
“Then I suddenly saw a figure flying through the air. I knew instantly it was Nicole from her clothes.
“She cleared the perimeter fence and struck an advertising hoarding about 30 feet away.
“I started running to her and saw a ride assistant scoop her into his arms and run with her to the control booth.
“I was so relieved”
“When I got there she was crying and I was so relieved. I half expected her to be dead.
“She had blood all over her face.
“I don’t know why the guy picked her up, she had hit her head and anyone knows you don’t move someone injured like that.”
The Health and Safety Executive is investigating the incident on Wednesday after visiting the site.
In the mean time, the ride has been declared safe and will be re-opening once the manufacturers have carried out checks.
Nicole’s mother, Kelly Nisbet, 31, is at her bedside with Neil and said she was sick with fear when she heard what had happened.
She said: “I felt sick when Neil phoned to tell me what happened.
“I was convinced when I got to the hospital they would tell me she had died.
Broken pelvis
“She has a broken pelvis and really bad swelling on her face and head.
“She’s already had a head scan and doctors want to do a full body scan for internal injuries.”
The family, who all live in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, expect Nicole to be kept in hospital for the next few days.
The ride is part of a travelling funfair, run by Strathclyde based M&D’s, which is at the shopping centre until Monday.
Stanley Gamble
A spokesman for the company said: “We can confirm there was an incident on the Extreme ride, owned by Mr Stanley Gamble, at approximately 3pm on Wednesday.
“The ride was closed down immediately and the Health and Safety Executive informed.”
Mr Gamble not available for comment.
