‘Still not out of the woods’: Shylah Rodden wakes up from coma 2 months after hit by rollercoaster
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: A young woman who got injured in a horror rollercoaster accident and placed in a medically induced coma has finally woken up after more than two months, after her family had feared for the worst.
Shylah Rodden, 26, was hit by a carriage from the Rebel Coaster at the Royal Melbourne Show on September 25 which led to serious injuries to her pelvis, arms, legs, and back. The rollercoaster which struck Rodden was traveling at the speed of 43 mph (70 km/h). She was then immediately rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and placed in a coma. The hospital revealed on Wednesday, November 30, that the patient is finally in stable condition. However, a person close to the Rodden family told News.com.au that she was "still not out of the woods."
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Shylah Rodden wakes up after Melbourne Show rollercoaster tragedy https://t.co/Tlnd8OTnNB pic.twitter.com/GZ8qKbN8Hu
— Josh Holcombe (@Josh_Holcombe) November 30, 2022
Rodden had shown some signs of improvement, with her condition downgrading from critical to serious on October 11, as per the Daily Mail. At the time when she was taken to the hospital right after the accident, doctors told her parents they "haven't seen anything as bad as this for a long time."
Backtracking to the day of the accident, Rodden had reportedly been working at a friend's stall at the Melbourne show when the pals decided to go on a few rides during their break. She is thought to have dropped her phone while on the rollercoaster. The investigators believe that Rodden walked under the tracks of the high-speed ride to fetch her phone. Video footage of the shocking incident shows the woman launched around nine meters into the air after the carriage hit her.
WorkSafe is reportedly investigating the circumstances behind the tragedy along with the assistance of detectives from the Yarra Crime Investigation Unit. The investigation revealed there were no technical issues with the rollercoaster and the ride that struck her was reopened only days after the shocking incident.
A Melbourne Royal Show spokeswoman claimed that "the safety and well-being of our visitors to the show continues to be our number one priority," as reported by the outlet. "Strict safety protocols are upheld in line with Victorian WorkSafe regulations. All rides on site have undergone stringent compliance inspections and have passed all the required safety documentation," a statement from the Royal Melbourne Show at the time read.
Shylah's father spoke about his daughter suffering through life-changing injuries to DailyMail Australia in October. "I can't talk to my daughter. She's going to be in a coma for quite a while," he said. "The injuries are horrific. Horrific. She's brain-damaged. It's pelvic, her arms, legs, back, neck - there's hardly a thing that's not broken. I just can't work out how the hell so much damage has been done. Even the doctors have said they haven't seen anything as bad as this for a long time," added her father.
The chairwoman of the Australian Institute of Health and Safety, Naomi Kemp, has confirmed in a statement that neither Shylah nor the ride operators were to be blamed.