The woman who was hit by a rollercoaster will not be heading home for Christmas.
As per News.com.au, Shylah Rodden, who was hit by a rollercoaster in September at the Royal Melbourne Show, will spend Christmas in the hospital as she continues to recover from her horrific injuries.
Despite the end-of-year festivities, Rodden will be confined to her hospital bed as she continues down the long road to recovery after she was collected by a rollercoaster carriage in September.
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On September 25, the 26-year-old was hit by the ride that was moving up to 70km per hour (43.4 miles per hour) when she was trying to retrieve her phone, The Herald Sun reports.
She was then dragged and hurled into the air by the Rebel Coaster, falling from around nine meters (29.5 feet) in the air.
As a result, she suffered severe injuries to her head, pelvis, arms, legs and back.
Since then, Shylah has remained in a stable condition after waking up from a medically induced coma last month.
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Her condition was moved from ‘critical’ to ‘serious’ on October 11, according to the Melbourne newspaper.
Her downgraded condition was welcome news for her family, with doctors telling her parents that they had ‘haven’t seen anything as bad as [her injuries] for a long time’, news.com.au reports.
But despite the small win in her improving condition, a person close to Shylah told the outlet that she is not entirely ‘out of the woods’.
While speaking to news.com.au, Australian Institute of Health and Safety chair Naomi Kemp said the young woman was not to blame for the accident.
Instead, she said event organisers must consider implementing more barriers to prevent the public from accessing restricted areas.
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“In this scenario it’s actually not the operation of the ride itself that was unsafe but the impact of a pedestrian,” she said.
“We not only have to think about the safety of the ride but also the safety area around the ride that it’s operating in.”
She added: “Ride operators need to go through the process of ‘have we got the all clear to operate?’ And ‘is the zone clear?’”
WorkSafe is currently investigating the incident with the assistance of detectives from the Yarra Crime Investigation Unit.
However, so far, it’s been confirmed that the rollercoaster had no technical issues.
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A GoFundMe launched by a close friend of Shylah’s has already raised more than AUD $22,000 (£12,190), which will go towards her extensive treatment and rehabilitation.
Charisa Bossinakis