Coaster victim fights for life

SANDUSKY — The woman struck by a metal object at Cedar Point is "fighting for her life," according to a statement from her family. Rachel Hawes, 44, of Swartz Creek, Michigan, was seriously injured while standing in line for the Top Thrill Dragster when she was hit with a metal plate that broke off a train on the ride as it came into the station at the end of its run. "We are devastated by last weekend's accident at Cedar Point," the Hawes family said in a statement to ABC12, a TV station in Michigan. "We want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this time. Rachel is fighting for her life, and we would ask for privacy in this difficult time." This is the first update on the victim's status since the incident eight days ago. Cedar Point has not responded to questions or public records requests. The Ohio Department of Agriculture, which is investigating the incident, conducted a news conference Monday afternoon, providing limited information on the ongoing investigation. The Agriculture Department is the state agency historically assigned to inspect rides because it was the agency county fairs went to for certification of carnival rides. "The object that struck the victim was a metal L-shaped bracket, known as a flag plate. It is approximately the size of an adult male's hand," said David Miran, chief of amusement ride and safety. "The plates are used to communicate to the rides operating system that the car has passed a portion of the track." The ride's green train was missing the plate on the left side of the train body. The train was also missing the bolts that hold the plate to the car, according to the department. "The plate was dislodged from the left side of the ride's green train car and struck the victim in the head," Miran said. "Upon inspection, it was determined that half of the bolts which secured the plate to the train body had also dislodged." It is not known what caused the plate, which Cedar Point currently has, to come off the train car. "Cedar Point is currently in possession of the bracket. We have taken numerous photographs and examined the piece ourselves," Miran said. "The department has sent the green train car to a laboratory which is examining the bolts that remain in the train body, the report is expected to provide more insight on how the flag plate may have dislodged." The brake bracket area of the track, near the end of the ride, and horizontal track beams showed signs of impact and deformation. Miran stated the department is inspecting those as well. The ride, last inspected by the department on May 14, received satisfactory ratings for all bolts and cables. Cedar Point also conducts reopening inspections daily. "I don't believe this issue was missed in the initial inspection," Miran said. "This ride is a popular ride and has operated several cycles since the May 14 inspection so I don't believe this was missed during the original (our) inspection." During a question segment, in which news agencies were allowed one question each, concerns about the transparency of incident reporting was brought up. Amusement parks are only required to report incidents that result in hospitalization. "Right now, the law does not require that anything less than that be reported to the department," Miran said. "I can say from history that often times incidents that do not rise to the level of an accident are often reported." The department did not have any numbers to provide on the occurrence of ride incidents for the state. The popular ride was shut down immediately and will remain closed for the remainder of the season. The news conference was relatively short, less than 30 minutes, and some questions did not get answered. It's unclear how many questions were asked but not addressed by state officials. The state agency later sent the initial incident report to the Register — and other media outlets — in response to the Register's written public records request. Last week, the agency said it would not release the report. It relented, however, after the Register pushed for the agency to review and abide by the state's Public Records Act (ORC 149.43).