Texas Carnival Worker Saves Child While Dangling 30 Feet in Air

Groves, TX (KPEL News) - A mother is calling a carnival worker at a Groves, Texas, festival a hero, after he was left dangling from a malfunctioning ride while her daughter was in the car. The now viral video taken at a festival near Beaumont has been shared on several social media platforms.

Carnival ride malfunctions and accidents are not uncommon. In July, children and adults on the Music Express ride at Rye Playland in New York were stuck spinning backwards for ten minutes. Operators tried unsuccessfully to stop the ride, so maintenance crews had to disconnect power to stop it from spinning.

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In a more tragic accident, a 10-year-old boy was flung from the Moby Dick carnival ride in Illinois. The boy was seriously injured and, thankfully, was recovering after multiple surgeries.

At the most recent incident in at the Groves Pecan Festival, KBMT reported a gust of wind sent the arm of The Bullet ride into the air while the carnival worker was securing the door of the car. The man, trying to stop the now-moving car, clung to the metal cage and closed the door with his foot to protect the 12-year-old girl inside.

Eventually, and for what must have seemed like a lifetime for the child's mother, other workers were able to lower the ride's arm, the little girl was safe, and the worker made it back to the ground unharmed.

Caress Muraira, the child’s mother, told Beaumont TV station KBMT that they wanted to spend the day enjoying the fair, and The Bullet was the first ride for her daughter that day. She explained to the reporter the terrifying event unfolding in front of her eyes:

It started going slow at first and he was trying to stop it. Her door wasn't closed. So I started freaking out; as he went to close the door he just kind of flew up with it. My daughter was up there and talking to him saying please hang on, don't fall.

The amusement company closed the ride for the rest of the day.