John Jefferson
A teenager, who was left dangling upside down on an Oregon theme park ride, revealed the horrific moment she was left thinking “we were going to die there.”
Jordan Harding, 18, told People that she and her boyfriend’s fun date night at Portland, Oregon’s Oaks Amusement Park was cut short after they were left hanging upside down for 20 agonizing minutes on the AtmosFEAR thrill ride.
“After about 15 seconds of being upside down, I realized we were stuck,” Harding said. “I thought we were going to die there. My boyfriend was scared, too.”
DOZENS OF OREGON AMUSEMENT PARK GUESTS LEFT HANGING UPSIDE DOWN AFTER RIDE MALFUNCTION ON OPENING DAY
The 18-year-old said that her life flashed before her eyes as she contemplated life while stuck completely upside down alongside 28 others.
“I remember thinking that I was going to die like that and miss out on so many major things that I had hoped to experience,” she said.
Harding said that the majority of riders were participating in an eighth grade field trip, when the attraction suddenly came to a full stop.
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She said that they remained calm as Portland Fire & Rescue and ride operators worked to bring the over two dozen workers back to solid ground.
The Portland Fire & Rescue were called to the theme park Friday evening, after the spinning pendulum-style ride malfunctioned.
The ride malfunction came on the park’s first day of opening for the summer.
Park engineers, alongside fire officials, worked together to “manually lower” the topsy-turvy ride, the Fire Department said.
A spokesperson for the Fire Bureau said that after the riders were evacuated, they were medically evaluated.
“The ride has been manually lowered, and all riders are now being evacuated and medically evaluated,” officials said on Friday evening.
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Oaks Park announced that the attraction would be closed until further notice.
Oak’s Park is Oregon’s oldest existing amusement park and is just 3½ miles from downtown Portland.
The small park first opened two days before the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition on May 30, 1905, and is one of the country’s oldest continually operating amusement parks in the country.
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