Happy turns to horror out of a clear blue sky
Devastation in a heartbeat
THE most shocking accidents are always those that are least expected.
Plane crashes are a particular case in point.
Although the notion of hurtling through the air encased in a metal tube seems fraught with danger, when things do go wrong, the reaction is always disbelief and deep sadness.
The same could be said of amusement ride accidents.
Anyone who has rattled around on a roller-coaster or twirled upside-down through the air on the end of a mechanical arm, well knows that fear plays a role in the thrill.
Perhaps the most surprising part is that accidents don’t occur more often.
Yet the reaction to Tuesday’s sickening tragedy at Dreamworld, Australia’s biggest and arguably best-loved theme park, was widespread, unbridled, shock and dismay.
How could something so enormously awful happen at a place that trades on the promise of happiness and fun in a safe environment?
At close to 35 years old, Dreamworld is an Australian institution – where countless happy memories have been created; where families and friends have come together to be entertained and escape the rigorous demands of life for a while.
It was probably one of the last places on Earth where anyone would expect to find news headlines associated with a gruesomely awful ride malfunction that cost four people their lives and shattered their families.
Canberra mother Kate Goodchild, 32, was with her daughter Ebony, 12, and brother Luke Dorsett, 35, whose partner Roozi Araghi, 38, was also on the flume.
The four had been joined by Cindy Low, 42, and her 10year-old son Kieran, from the Central Coast of New South Wales.
In a bitter twist of fate, she chose to board the ride separately to her husband Mathew and six-year-old daughter Isla.
Miraculously, Ebony and Kieran were flung to safety when the flume crashed into another as the ride came to an end, and it was forced upright on the large conveyor belt.
What happened then is perhaps too awful to even contemplate but in the words of paramedic Gavin Fuller, the four adults were left with injuries that were “incompatible with life”.
The blame game and finger-pointing began almost immediately. Unions, government in
spectors and even past theme park visitors revealed they believed something was amiss at Dreamworld, and that a serious accident such as this was inevitable.
It was just a matter of time, they said and, on Tuesday, October 25, that time came.
Police, park managers, tourism industry leaders and politicians took a more considered