Huntley Daniels, Antioch, Illinois boy thrown off Moby Dick carnival ride at the Taste of Summer Festival as authorities investigate how the boy came to be ejected and who bears culpability?
‘You would never think it could happen to you….’ A 10 year old boy thrown off a Moby Dick carnival ride in Illinois has been with left with catastrophic injuries, including a cracked skull and broken jaw.
Huntley Daniels, was thrown from his seat on the carnival ride at the Taste of Summer Festival in Antioch, Sunday afternoon, officials said. The venue is 60 miles northwest of Chicago, near the Wisconsin border.
The boy who was left badly injured had to be airlifted to hospital where he was treated for a range of ailments, including, several broken ribs, a broken femur, a broken arm, a cracked skull and broken jaw, CBS 2 Chicago reported.
‘It’s unacceptable. It’s supposed to be a great place; fun place for kids!’
The boy’s teeth were also shoved into his gums from the impact of hitting the ground.
Witnesses told of the boy being thrown about 10 to 20 feet in the air before hitting the ground.
‘You never think it would happen to you,’ the boy’s grandmother, Dawne Pohlman, told CBS2. ‘You think, ‘Oh, this is just fun – this is what we do.’ But then it happens.’
Daniels is now recovering at the University of Chicago Corner Children’s Hospital after having undergone emergency surgery, Monday morning.
‘It’s unacceptable. It’s supposed to be a great place; fun place for kids, and honestly, I don’t think I would ever want a child to be on a ride like that again,’ the grandmother told CBS.
The boy’s parents said up to Sunday’s incident, Huntley having gone to the carnival every year.
@x___k3v1n___x A kid flew off of a ride at The Taste of Antioch #CapCut #scary #carnival #foryoupage #pray🙏 ♬ original sound – Kj
A case of recklessness or negligence?
Moby Dick was inspected this year and received a state permit, police said.
Authorities have since shut down all rides at the amusement park.
State regulators are now probing if any recklessness or negligence led to the incident.
‘The carnival was packed, and so a lot of people experienced seeing it,’ said Charles Smith, operations commander at the Antioch police department. ‘It’s a traumatic event for our community.’
One mother who was waiting to ride Moby Dick with her son saw Daniels one the pavement and not moving.
‘I turned and I hear a woman screaming,’ Erin Maloney told WLS-TV.
‘And my son said, ‘Mom, look.’ I turned around and this little boy was just on the pavement, not moving not responsive.’
Village officials are now seeking to explore whether the boy properly strapped into the ride when the incident occurred. Family has since claimed not seeing anyone checking to see whether the 10 year old boy was securely locked into his seat before the commencement of the ride.
The investigation is expected to take months.
