Shylah Rodden: Woman hit by rollercoaster had just recovered from nearly-fatal car crash
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: A young Melbourne woman was severely injured in a rollercoaster accident at the Royal Melbourne Show on Sunday, September 25. Shylah Rodden, 26, currently remains in intensive care as she battles for her life. But the young victim is no stranger to the hurdles of life and has managed to turn every obstacle into a stepping stone thus far.
Before the horrifying coaster accident, Shylah stared down death after being in a car crash in January last year. She flipped a car on the Western Ring Road after plowing into a truck and a car, reports Daily Mail. Shylah flung out of the car and onto the road as she wasn't wearing a seatbelt. She managed to escape death but needed rigorous rehabilitative care to get back on her feet.
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Two years before that, Shylah was in another serious car crash in 2019. In spite of the series of tragedies, the woman shares an appetite for overcoming life's hiccups. At 18 years old, some friends introduced her to drugs. She even got a tattoo at the time that reads, 'Live Life Loose.' However, she turned her life around, got a job and received professional care, and pledged to make better friends.
Just two months before the rollercoaster accident, life threw another curveball at her when she lost her beloved brother Jason. Her devasted father sat her down and broke the news to her. Shylah considered her brother more of a "best friend," her "everything" and an "inspiring person she looked up to." On the day of her rollercoaster accident, Shylah was helping a friend with her stall and was on break when she decided to enjoy the ride.
Though the exact cause of her tragedy has not been confirmed, police have revealed that Shylah walked onto a section of the 350m-long track to retrieve her phone, and was struck by a carriage that was traveling at 70km/h. However, some eyewitnesses have claimed that Shylah was in fact onboard the ride. Victoria Police and workplace safety watchdog WorkSafe are currently investigating the event. It is believed that WorkSafe had some concerns around the rollercoaster, which was reponed days after the incident. The full extent of the criminal charges involved is still unknown.
"There are a lot of stories going around and I don't know which one is true and if someone is covering their tracks. Obviously, I can't talk to my daughter," Shylah's father Alan Rodden told sources. "She's going to be in a coma for quite a while. 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." The devasted father added, "Even doctors haven't seen anything as bad as this for a long time."