Who is Lucy Astilla? Cable car passenger films Utah man's final moments before fatal 60ft fall
An accident from Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah, has been reported where a man has died from injuries after falling from his cable car to the ground. A horrifying video clip of the man moments before his death has now emerged, which shows him hanging from his moving cable car nearly 60 feet up in the air. Bizarrely enough, the man seemed perfectly calm in the video, unlike someone in emergency need of help.
The video was filmed by another cable car passenger Lucy Grace Astilla, who was baffled by the man's unperturbed demeanor while hanging so precariously. "I thought it was a stunt, or he is a gymnast practicing for American Ninja Warrior, rehearsing. But then I noticed he didn't have any equipment that would save him from a fall," Astilla later shared with news out Gephardt Daily. By the time she realized something was wrong and asked the operator to stop the ride, the man had already fallen and sustained fatal injuries. Unwittingly, Astilla ended up capturing the final moments of the man's life — a fact that is still haunting her.
READ MORE
Utah snowboarder triggered deadly avalanche at Dutch Draw that tragically buried him alive
#15Ago Un hombre resultó herido el sábado por la noche cuando se cayó de un paseo en Lagoon.
— Somos Utah (@SomosUtah) August 15, 2021
El video enviado a FOX 13 muestra al hombre colgado del Sky Ride mientras cruzaba un área del parque. Se podía ver a la gente debajo del viaje mirando hacia arriba y gritando.
🎥✍️ @fox13 pic.twitter.com/4FU3ktSK5w
Who is Lucy Grace Astilla?
Lucy Grace Astilla was visiting the Lagoon Amusement Park on Saturday evening, August 14, when the tragic incident took place. She was aboard the Sky Ride, a two-seater cable car service that takes visitors from one end of the park to another. Astilla was sitting with her husband when they spotted the man hanging. She already had her phone camera on as she was capturing views from the top.
As soon as she spotted the man, she turned the camera towards him. In the video, the unnamed man can be seen passing in the opposite direction while clinging on to his cable car seat with barely his fingertips. Despite no sign of panic from the man, Astilla felt something was not right and informed the operator immediately. That was when she heard the scream of a crowd behind.
"We were by the roller coaster, so I think maybe it was for that, but it wasn't," she said, adding that people screamed as the man fell from the air all of a sudden. When Astilla walked back to the scene, she found bystanders trying to save him but to little avail.
The victim, whose name is not disclosed, had been confirmed to be 32 years of age. As 911 first responders arrived at the park, they airlifted the injured man via helicopter to the University of Utah hospital. But he did not survive due to the severe nature of his injuries. Farmington Police Chief Wayne Hansen confirmed the news of his death and refuted speculations of death by suicide.
Meanwhile, Astilla is still traumatized about the entire episode, as she wonders how the victim's life could have been saved. "From that time, I have had no good sleep. I'm still having a traumatic experience, but I think I can manage," she revealed.
Meanwhile, Lagoon Amusement spokesman Adam Leishman insisted that there was no safety violation or ride malfunction, and it was the first such incident to occur since 1974.