Funfair carriage not secure, says father

THE father of a young mother catapulted out of a fairground ride yesterday claimed her carriage was not secured when it took off.

Danny Flynn described the terror experienced by his daughter Sonia, 29, who along with her own daughter Megan, eight, her friend Nicole, nine, and another young girl, 13, underwent on the nightmare ride.

Sonia, a mother-of-four, was at the Blanchardstown fair, Dublin, with her partner and children when the fun-filled day went horribly wrong. Sonia, Megan and Nicole stepped into the ‘Superbowl’ ride on Monday and were joined at the last minute by a 13-year-old.

But when the waltzer-type ride took off, their car was not secured, claimed Mr Flynn yesterday.

“As it took off her daughter, the eight-year-old, was going out over the bar and she went over to grab her to bring her back in and as she pulled her in then she got thrown out of it,” he said.

Speaking to Orla Barry on the Newstalk’s Life! programme, Sonia’s father described the horrific injuries experienced by his daughter when she was thrown out of the carriage.

“She shattered the whole left-hand side of her body. She has a lot of internal bruising.”

Her shoulder and hip were shattered and her leg was broken below her right knee. In addition, her ankle was shattered, he said. Doctors had begun implanting pins into her body.

She had been thrown from the ride trying to save the young girls in the carriage with her, he added.

“Megan is strong, but she is so upset that she couldn’t save her mum,” said Mr Flynn of his granddaughter.

They had no way of staying in the seats and had tried to hang on for dear life, he added.

It is thought the 13-year-old who was with them in the carriage fainted when she saw Sonia flying out of the machine and slipped out herself, landing close to the railings.

Gardaí, as well as Fingal County Council, have both launched investigations into the accident, which took place on the last day of the fair on Monday evening.

Funfest, the company which hosted the amusement rides for the last three years, could not be contacted. A mobile phone number listed for its business address remained unanswered.