Family of Two Girls Injured in Ferris Wheel Accident Recounts 'Scary' Moments
The Reynolds family details the accident that injured Kayla, 10, and Briley, 6.
— -- The family of two of the three girls injured in a Ferris wheel accident in Tennessee is speaking out about the ordeal for the first time, in an exclusive interview with "Good Morning America."
The three girls fell from a height of 35 to 45 feet after the basket they were sitting in on the Ferris wheel at the Greene County Fair overturned on Aug. 8.
Kayla Reynolds, 10, said she remembers the moment clearly when she; her sister, Briley, 6; and another girl, 16, were thrown to the ground after the ride malfunctioned.
"Me and my sister were crying. We were just, like, trying to hold on to stuff and didn't know what to do," Kayla said. "We were probably sitting there with it tilted for maybe not even a minute ... hoping it would turn back, and then we just started falling."
The younger girls' parents, Kimmee Reynolds and Jason Reynolds, noticed that the basket was tilting and ran toward the Ferris wheel operator, yelling, "Stop, stop, stop now."
"I was going to try to break their fall or something," Jason Reynolds said. "What are you supposed to do? It's scary."
Kimmee Reynolds said, "Kayla took the most hits. She hit the gondola beneath them, then she hit a bar, and then she hit the ground. She was alert, though. When she hit the ground, she was awake."
Kayla suffered a broken arm and other, minor injuries; her younger sister took a much harder fall.
"[Briley] smacked the top of the other gondola, and she went straight to the ground," Kimmee Reynolds said, beginning to cry. "When she hit, she knocked out. Her eyes rolled back in her head."
Doctors said Briley remains hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury. She is in serious but stable condition.
Immediately after falling to the ground, Kayla was worried about her sister. "She wasn't breathing, and she wasn't moving. But then I saw her move, and it made me feel a lot better," she said.
Safety inspectors are blaming mechanical failure for the incident, which authorities have called an accident.
Seat belts and lap restraints, which the ride lacked, are not required by law.
"It's hard to track down where the negligent part came from," Jason Reynolds said. "Safety should be a priority when you have people's lives at risk."
"You're going to a fair thinking it is safe, expecting certain standards ... thinking you are putting your child on something they are going to come off of fine," Kimmee Reynolds said.
Jason Reynolds said, "It can happen to anybody at any time. That's the scary part about it."
Briley is doing much better, her parents said in a press conference today, but she is still having trouble responding to her family and putting thoughts together.
"We want her back the way she was, and it doesn't work that way," Kimmee Reynolds said, adding that she wants to see her "spunky" daughter full of "sass and attitude" return.
In its first statement addressing the incident, Family Attractions Amusement, which provided rides for the fair, told ABC News, "By no means do we take this lightly, as our main concern is the safety of the families who visit our midway each week. We wish the children health and a speedy recovery as we continue to keep them in our prayers."
A friend of the Reynolds family has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of medical expenses as well as gifts for Kayla and Briley.
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