Kentucky Personal Injury Settlement Agreement Reached Between Six Flags and Family of Girl Whose Feet Were Severed in Amusement Park Ride Accident
Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and the family of Kaitlyn Lassiter have reached a Kentucky personal injury settlement agreemeent. Kaitlyn is the teenager whose feet were severed while riding the Superman Tower of Power ride in June 2007. She was 13 when the accident happened.
While the terms of the settlement are confidential, the amusement park says the settlement will take care of Kaitlyn for life. The Lassiter’s personal injury attorney, however, disputes this claim and says that because the girl’s medical condition is not stable, it is unclear what additional care she might need. It hasn’t even been quite 18-months since the catastrophic amusement park ride accident, but the teen’s medical bills reportedly are already close to $500,000.
Kaitlyn not only has had to undergo multiple amputation surgeries, but she continues to experience severe pain and depression. In statements she made made earlier this year about the accident, she described initially smelling burning flesh but not knowing that she was injured.
Kaitlyn lost her feet when a cable on the Superman ride broke and severed them. While doctors were able to reattach one foot, she had to be fitted with a prosthesis for her left foot. Her parents later sued the Kentucky amusement park for negligence and failure to properly test, inspect, maintain, and operate the ride.
Although Kentucky inspectors could not figure out why the ride’s cable snapped, they did confirm that the girl would have only suffered scrapes and cuts if the Superman Tower of Power operator had hit the emergency stop button right away. They also found that the amusement park ride accident might have never occurred if workers at the park had followed instructions on how to determine if a cable was deteriorating.
The Kentucky amusement park had denied responsibility, placing the blame with Intamin Ltd. Earlier this year, Kentucky Kingdom sued the amusement park ride manufacturer for the cable defect that caused Kaitlyn's accident. Two other Kentucky personal injury claims against the park, filed by Kaitlyn’s friends Arin Valsted and Blair Johnson, are pending. They are suing for the emotional trauma and minor injuries they sustained during the same accident.
Six Flags settles with Lasitter family, Courier-Journal, November 22, 2008
Kaitlyn Lasitter Gives First Public Account Of Ky. Kingdom Accident, WLKY, January 30, 2008
Girl's feet severed on ride at Six Flags in Kentucky, CNN, June 22, 2007
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