Woman injured by flying cell phone on roller coaster
DOSWELL, VA (WWBT) - A Chesterfield woman is recovering after she says she was hit in the forehead by a cell phone while on a ride at Kings Dominion.
Reann Mayfield said it happened Sunday afternoon while she was riding the Twisted Timbers ride at the amusement park.
Growing up on the West Coast, Mayfield said she's ridden her fair share of roller coasters, and was excited to ride Twisted Timbers for the first time.
"We were going up and down hills and I noticed there was this black object flying at me and I couldn't pinpoint what it was at the time," Mayfield said. "All of a sudden I'm feeling the impact of it hitting my face."
Mayfield went on to say that's when she started to feel something warm all over her face, which she later realized was blood.
"I didn't realize how severe it was until I saw the faces of the onlookers," she said. "There was blood everywhere."
Kings Dominion spokeswoman Maggie Sellers said first aid staff immediately helped Mayfield with her injury.
Sellers added there are signs and lockers at the entrances to the park's rides.
A policy states:
All loose articles must be fully secured at all times or stored.
"I put my [cell phone] in the bin as directed," Mayfield said.
Following the incident, Mayfield said the man whose cell phone hit her came up to apologize.
"He came up and said he thought he had zipped up his pocket, but I guess he didn't zip it," she said. "He then walked away."
Mayfield wasn't able to get the name of the man, and park staffers were too busy helping Mayfield, that they didn't get his name, Sellers said.
NBC12 legal analyst Steve Benjamin said situations like this can be difficult for all parties involved.
"If a passenger, despite a park's best efforts, decides to do something kind of dumb and as a result somebody else gets injured, the responsibility, the fault, lies exclusively with that passenger," he said.
Mayfield claimed she was not offered to be taken to the hospital, however Sellers said Mayfield declined the request and left the park on her own.
According to discharge papers from Johnston-Willis Hospital Sunday night, Mayfield received three stitches to her forehead.
Tuesday night Mayfield said she checked into Chippenham Hospital where she was diagnosed with a slight concussion.
"There's a lot of swelling around my eye, and my nose," Mayfield said. "I couldn't sleep. The pain was excruciating."
While Mayfield said she has consulted with an attorney, she hopes the park and/or the individual involved in the incident will come forward and take responsibility.
"Someone should be responsible for taking care of my medical bills due to the negligence," Mayfield said. "I'm going to have a scar on my face for the rest of my life. That's very unfair to me… I'm never going back there again. I'm scared."
Mayfield added that she hopes amusement parks would consider strengthening their policies in the future to avoid incidents like this from happening again.
"I feel they should implement that if you do have a cell phone, it does need to be placed in the bin because things like this could be avoided," she said.
Sellers added the safety of the park's guests and associates is the top priority.
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