Speaker 1: Hey, that, folks, some of the biggest fears people have
Speaker 1: our fear of heights. They also have a fear of
Speaker 1: roller coaster. But what if you put those two things together.
Speaker 2: Well, most people who are afraid of heights probably don't
Speaker 2: go on roller coasts.
Speaker 3: Well that's the thing.
Speaker 1: I would argue that maybe that that's the place they
Speaker 1: feel safest. Well, they not hate everybody. Welcome to this
Speaker 1: episode of Amy and TJ. But yes, that is one
Speaker 1: of the A lot of people will tell you they
Speaker 1: have a fear of heights, but I have. I'm not
Speaker 1: a big fan of heights at all, but I love
Speaker 1: a roller coaster.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right. I was just thinking about that because
Speaker 2: when we were dangling off of the edge, you were
Speaker 2: genuinely like it, very much afraid, but you had roller.
Speaker 1: Coasters, roller coasters, and you know, I even enjoy it.
Speaker 1: And folks don't know the edge here in New York,
Speaker 1: how many heights?
Speaker 3: How many floors up? Is it?
Speaker 1: They built it here in Midtown? Yeah, one hundred stories, right,
Speaker 1: so they did? They have this attraction. Now you can
Speaker 1: go up on the side of a building and they
Speaker 1: strap you in. We did this on live TV, and
Speaker 1: you lot to really lean out over New York City,
Speaker 1: over Manhattan, completely dangling.
Speaker 2: My favorite thing was so we did this together, and
Speaker 2: we did it on live television. But TJ he was
Speaker 2: a good sport because he did it despite his fear.
Speaker 2: But my favorite part of it is that you were
Speaker 2: like bending your knees and trying not to lean as
Speaker 2: much as if that was going to save you if
Speaker 2: some of the equipment malfunctions.
Speaker 1: Well you didn't hear the safety briefing because they said
Speaker 1: just bend your knees and you'll be okay.
Speaker 2: Right then you'll just be able to sit back and
Speaker 2: you won't fall forward.
Speaker 1: No, it's it was terrified. It's hard to trust an apparatus.
Speaker 1: It's hard to trust that this thing is going to hold.
Speaker 1: But roller coasters, as a kid, from a kid level,
Speaker 1: absolutely loveable.
Speaker 2: Well, I've always been a believer. If you're getting on
Speaker 2: an airplane, or you're even getting in a vehicle, or
Speaker 2: you're getting into anything where there's some sort of potential
Speaker 2: for accent, you kind of have to trust the vehicle,
Speaker 2: trust the system, trust the harnesses. Yes they can be
Speaker 2: checked in double check, but at a certain point you
Speaker 2: have to suspend fear and just trust that things are
Speaker 2: going to work the way they're.
Speaker 1: Supposed to, okay, and sometimes they don't. You all see
Speaker 1: stories over the years, There's been plenty of stories. Now unfortunately,
Speaker 1: there have been tragedies at amusement parks over the years
Speaker 1: where people have died on rides from a malfunction or
Speaker 1: something has happened. But more often than that, we do
Speaker 1: see video of rides and people getting stuck on those
Speaker 1: rides at amusement park. That seems like it happens kind
Speaker 1: of a lot lot.
Speaker 2: Do that go through your mind because we have been
Speaker 2: on rides together, Does that ever go through your mind
Speaker 2: when you're on the ride? What would happen.
Speaker 1: If I come up with a plan for myself it
Speaker 1: doesn't work. You know what I get more worried about
Speaker 1: is ride in the subway I do. I'll go on
Speaker 1: the subway and I know the exits, how many people
Speaker 1: are here, that guy's wearing that coat. This person's probably
Speaker 1: a bigger threat. I do that on a train, ye
Speaker 1: on a subway.
Speaker 2: There are so many places where you could beach wrapped
Speaker 2: and it would be scary and having a plan is
Speaker 2: actually really smart.
Speaker 3: But the but as far as rollercoasters.
Speaker 2: Go or yeah, what would your plan be?
Speaker 1: I have always thought, well, if it gets stuck here,
Speaker 1: am I able to climb down? I always think can I?
Speaker 1: Because most you're not supposed to be able to get
Speaker 1: out of those because they lock you in right right,
Speaker 1: that's a safety thing because they don't want people jumping out.
Speaker 2: Correct. Yeah, I'm looking for falling out.
Speaker 3: Yes there is that.
Speaker 1: But I'm looking for ay through. I guess gain the set.
Speaker 1: But it does doesn't seem like over the years we
Speaker 1: see a bunch of stores. Maybe it's not that many,
Speaker 1: but well, let's just.
Speaker 2: We worked in morning television that was like, other than
Speaker 2: a shark attack, a malfunctioning ride with video to a company,
Speaker 2: it is like warning show of gold because everyone can
Speaker 2: imagine what it would be like and it's scary, so
Speaker 2: it's relatable immediately and people do exactly what you just said.
Speaker 2: Think about what would I do now all of those scenarios.
Speaker 2: There could be a situation in which you could take action,
Speaker 2: But what happens if you're suspended upside down?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 2: What can you do?
Speaker 3: Have you been stuck on a ride before?
Speaker 2: I have never been stuck, thankful, and I ride a
Speaker 2: lot of rides so my time could be coming. How
Speaker 2: about you.
Speaker 1: It got stuck before we got in the middle of
Speaker 1: the ride. This happened with Sabine.
Speaker 3: I don't know. It was a bad experience.
Speaker 1: At at at an amusement park to where we arrived.
Speaker 1: I was telling you this earlier we arrived. Ok, it
Speaker 1: was a six Flags it's just still. It was the
Speaker 1: Six Flags over Georgia, which was at the exit where
Speaker 1: my house was located in Atlanta. So I passed this place.
Speaker 1: I had to pass it almost twice a day at least,
Speaker 1: and never went. In seventeen years, not one time did
Speaker 1: I visit the Six Flags over Georgia. Sabine and I finally,
Speaker 1: let's just do it. This wasn't just a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago maybe finally going. We were so excited, just
Speaker 1: the two of us get out there. We're passing the
Speaker 1: first set of rides, and you know the rides with
Speaker 1: the swings, you just sit in the swing. It's kind
Speaker 1: of chain and just go around. Simple but kind of thrilling.
Speaker 1: And people were just dangling. The ride wasn't going, and
Speaker 1: people's legs were just they were just there dangling.
Speaker 2: Twisting in the wind.
Speaker 1: They weren't twisting. They wish they were twisting. The ride
Speaker 1: was stuck, We wanted to ride it. We kept going,
Speaker 1: rode something that came back. It was still stuck, so
Speaker 1: at least twenty minutes, so if we had maybe tried
Speaker 1: that ride, we'd gotten stuck. We did a roller coaster
Speaker 1: later where we're sitting on strapped in waiting. It jerks
Speaker 1: a little bit and then they make an announcement the
Speaker 1: ride is being closed for maintenance. But yeah, we got
Speaker 1: into another line for another roller coaster and they shut
Speaker 1: that one down. We just had a bad day. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so yeah, So no, I hadn't gotten stuck, but I
Speaker 1: guess those were some close calls. It feels like Final Destination,
Speaker 1: you know those movies, right like it was my time. Yes,
Speaker 1: I avoided it, so it's coming. But to your point,
Speaker 1: the one I don't like the upside down ones.
Speaker 2: Yeah they're scary, but I do like them. But I
Speaker 2: have always had that thought the scary when I've been
Speaker 2: on I don't know if anyone has been overseas to
Speaker 2: any amusement park, but I don't know if they have
Speaker 2: the same standards, and it just makes me nervous. I
Speaker 2: have my daughter always trying to convince me to go
Speaker 2: on the scariest upside down ride, and eventually I always
Speaker 2: weigh in, so or give in and say fine, I'll
Speaker 2: do it. But this some I'm sure many of you
Speaker 2: have seen what happened. It was last week, correct in
Speaker 2: right outside of Portland, Oregon, and these I think it
Speaker 2: was almost thirty people were on a very scary ride
Speaker 2: and it swings and you go upside down. I think
Speaker 2: you can do like a one to eighty or three sixty.
Speaker 2: You have your choice of just how scary you want
Speaker 2: it to be. But the ride malfunctioned right at the
Speaker 2: top with twenty eight thirty people just suspended upside down
Speaker 2: for almost thirty minutes. That might not people like, oh
Speaker 2: it was thirty minutes, you know, that probably felt like
Speaker 2: thirty years, and you don't know if you're gonna get
Speaker 2: rescued in a safe manner.
Speaker 3: High up in the air. Were they on this one?
Speaker 2: I don't know, but I saw the video and it
Speaker 2: looked like hundreds of feet or at least, Yeah, it
Speaker 2: was up there.
Speaker 1: It was high, so I think it was at the top.
Speaker 1: So two of the people who were on there, everybody
Speaker 1: got oh, should say that everybody got off, no injuries,
Speaker 1: the fire department came. Everybody got down eventually, but I
Speaker 1: can't imagine the trauma of those thirty minutes. They have
Speaker 1: a story to tell now, and they're here to tell
Speaker 1: it to us. Yes, two people who were dangling upside
Speaker 1: down are now back on their feet and sitting very
Speaker 1: safely and comfortably at their home. They're joining us now,
Speaker 1: all the way from Portland. Jordan Arding and Daniel Allen,
Speaker 1: teenagers here who liked the ride. Amusement park rides. So, Jordan,
Speaker 1: tell me now, what's you're feeling about amusement park rides
Speaker 1: these days?
Speaker 4: Definitely different than before. I used to love amusement parks.
Speaker 4: I like wasn't I would go on any ride. I
Speaker 4: wasn't scared, like obviously you're like a little bit like nervous,
Speaker 4: but used to go on it like there's not previous
Speaker 4: to this, there wasn't a ride that I was ever like,
Speaker 4: oh no, you're never gonna catch me on that. But
Speaker 4: definitely after this experience, it's a little different. You definitely
Speaker 4: have a lack of trust with how safe it is
Speaker 4: and everything.
Speaker 2: That makes sense. Daniel, how about you?
Speaker 5: I would say that, like, yeah, I'm a big thrill
Speaker 5: seeker for rides before, but I feel like after I've
Speaker 5: understood what being suspended upside down on a ride, you
Speaker 5: notice that these malfunctions can really happen to anybody, and
Speaker 5: especially a ride like this has put a lot of
Speaker 5: like fear and my are about more upside down rides,
Speaker 5: but I'd like to say I still go on some
Speaker 5: in the future because I feel like rides are just awesome.
Speaker 2: He's seventeen, by the way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, there it is that I mentioned, But but
Speaker 1: you said this ride it fear is in the name, right,
Speaker 1: isn't it? Gold Atmosphere is the name, and you will
Speaker 1: help us with the description a little bit.
Speaker 3: It go.
Speaker 1: It takes you hundreds of feet in the air. You're
Speaker 1: essentially in a chair seated position. You're locked in, but
Speaker 1: it's spinning everybody around and around while it's going up
Speaker 1: and down.
Speaker 3: Do I have it right? You will? It just makes
Speaker 3: you want to make sure set the scene.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's like a swinging pendulum, so like in the middle,
Speaker 5: like it just kind of goes like swinging, and like
Speaker 5: the entire thing in the bottoms also spinning, so it's
Speaker 5: like it's consistently moving the entire ride, and then like
Speaker 5: and how the machine works is like since it swings
Speaker 5: up and down, up and down, once it gets to
Speaker 5: a certain height where it hits like like where it
Speaker 5: likes trying to go upside down, it's kind of just
Speaker 5: like gravity that moves it, like pushes it. Like there's
Speaker 5: no motor making it go around and around. There's just
Speaker 5: a motor that's like keeps it like to like swinging
Speaker 5: back and forth. But once it goes upside down, the
Speaker 5: reason I got even stuck was because the balance of
Speaker 5: it was perfectly balanced upside down, and that's why it happened.
Speaker 2: It lost momentum. Wow that's crazy, Okay, Oh wow, I did.
Speaker 2: I didn't realize that either. So I would like to
Speaker 2: know at what point, Jordan, I mean it for you
Speaker 2: might think, oh, we're a little stuck. People might have
Speaker 2: even had a nervous laughter, like oh okay, we're gonna
Speaker 2: be moving again soon, and then you don't move. At
Speaker 2: what point were you actually afraid? Jordan?
Speaker 6: Okay?
Speaker 4: So I mean it is meant to stop for a second,
Speaker 4: so like you don't really even think anything of it.
Speaker 6: You like close your.
Speaker 4: Eyes and you like grab on your seat, so it's
Speaker 4: like a few seconds, like three seconds, five seconds.
Speaker 6: Whatever, because that's it's meant to stop. You don't really
Speaker 6: panic at first.
Speaker 4: It's just supposed to give you that like heart drop
Speaker 4: to your stomach feeling of like oh it stuck, but
Speaker 4: it's not, you know. So you're sitting there for like
Speaker 4: three seconds, and then you wait for it to drop
Speaker 4: and it doesn't see you wait for like fifteen seconds,
Speaker 4: and I think at like fifteen seconds I realized I
Speaker 4: was like, oh, this isn't right. But I wasn't like
Speaker 4: panicking yet. I was like, okay, like it's just gonna
Speaker 4: sings back down.
Speaker 6: It's fine.
Speaker 4: But then it's like one minute and then it's three
Speaker 4: minutes and it just keeps going on. But I think
Speaker 4: I started panicking at like I definitely knew something was
Speaker 4: wrong I like fifteen seconds, but then like I don't
Speaker 4: think I started panicking for like a minute, and then
Speaker 4: at like three minutes, I'm like actually like concerned, you
Speaker 4: know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And again you just said you knew if it's designed
Speaker 1: to stop, but you knew something was wrong after fifteen seconds,
Speaker 1: So for either one of you all hear how it
Speaker 1: was that quick, even you said fifteen. Okay, we're twenty seconds. Now,
Speaker 1: we're thirty seconds. Hmmm, we're forty five second. Was it
Speaker 1: that clear to you all? Had you written it before
Speaker 1: to know that, okay.
Speaker 3: Something's up?
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, we've both written it before, not like together
Speaker 4: the same day or anything. We've just previously ridden the
Speaker 4: ride like separately.
Speaker 6: But once, I mean, you know, it's meant to it's
Speaker 6: not even meant to really stop.
Speaker 4: It's supposed to be rotating on its axis still at
Speaker 4: the top, like it's supposed to be spinning while you're
Speaker 4: upside down, and then that's how it gets the momental
Speaker 4: to swing back downs because the way like disproportionates or
Speaker 4: whatever and swings back down. But it was all kids
Speaker 4: on the ride because there was a eighth grade celebration
Speaker 4: for Portland Public School happening, So we were like the
Speaker 4: oldest people on the ride, and like the young these
Speaker 4: people were like fourteen, so like averagely, we were all
Speaker 4: about the same size, you know what I mean. So
Speaker 4: it literally just perfectly gravitized upside down.
Speaker 2: Wow, Okay, so you knew something was wrong after the
Speaker 2: first minute, basically, did you go into a full panic mode?
Speaker 2: What were other people doing? I read. Tell me if
Speaker 2: this is true that people not only were screaming, crying,
Speaker 2: but actually vomiting. I mean, can you give us an
Speaker 2: idea of what was happening and how it progressed?
Speaker 5: That kind of happened like a few minutes in. I
Speaker 5: can't tell you about the kid that vomited. I don't
Speaker 5: know how because he projected out vomited all over himself,
Speaker 5: not even upside down, Like how do you do it
Speaker 5: on yourself when you're upside down?
Speaker 7: So that was a little confusing. So I don't know
Speaker 7: when he threw on himself.
Speaker 1: Maybe he pop during working.
Speaker 7: I was like, he's probably threw upon himself.
Speaker 4: I was swinging, But yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say
Speaker 4: either of us went too like a panic attack, but
Speaker 4: you know, you're definitely panicked. People were passing out, Like
Speaker 4: you said, people threw up. It's just like, I'm sure
Speaker 4: if we had been upside down much longer, we would
Speaker 4: have thrown up.
Speaker 6: I mean, and then a lot, I mean, not even
Speaker 6: a lot longer.
Speaker 4: Shortly after shortly after that, Oh my gosh, I'm sure
Speaker 4: we would have passed out. Because you're not your body's
Speaker 4: not designed.
Speaker 6: To be held like that.
Speaker 4: Like you can't even breathe because of the way that
Speaker 4: the harness is pressing on you and all the weight
Speaker 4: is in your shoulders and chest. Like I did not
Speaker 4: throw up, but I was definitely like gagging and gasping
Speaker 4: for air towards the end.
Speaker 1: Could you all tell everybody was struggling the way you
Speaker 1: all were physically? And again y'all talk about kids, like,
Speaker 1: I guess they had to be parents or somebody trying
Speaker 1: to keep them calm.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I had actually to keep some kids calm, and
Speaker 5: like everybody, I tried to lead a prayer for everybody around.
Speaker 5: But like you could definitely tell how lots of kids
Speaker 5: were like freaking out. Even I was freaking out. It's
Speaker 5: not like I could just handle that normally I was
Speaker 5: suspended upside down on a ride. But yeah, there was
Speaker 5: people struggling in pain. Definitely physically because those restraints on
Speaker 5: you are pushing all against your like physical like arteries,
Speaker 5: like your like main arteries all next to your like
Speaker 5: hip and all that. So like when I came down,
Speaker 5: it was really hard on my bladder and like everything
Speaker 5: because those are like there's a lot of nerve damage
Speaker 5: definitely after the ride. But you could tell people were
Speaker 5: like in pain. There wasn't, but there was definitely some
Speaker 5: people like taking it very calm. I would say, like,
Speaker 5: I remember some person sitting next to her was just
Speaker 5: like completely quiet the entire time, Like nuh.
Speaker 7: I was like, what, Like, how are you just quiet?
Speaker 7: We are upside down? Like I wish I could have
Speaker 7: been like that.
Speaker 4: I even like tried to talk to her. I was like,
Speaker 4: are you how are you so calm right now? And
Speaker 4: she she literally told me she's inn eighth grader er,
Speaker 4: She's about to go into her freshman year summer after
Speaker 4: her it's good year, And she was like, well, why
Speaker 4: would I be freaking out if there's nothing we can do.
Speaker 4: I'm like, because we're upside out.
Speaker 2: I mean that's incredible. I would have been freaking out.
Speaker 2: I mean the blood even rushing to your head. I
Speaker 2: was imagining how did it feel? I mean, you guys
Speaker 2: were describing it was hard to breathe because the way
Speaker 2: you have to be strapped in to be securely riding
Speaker 2: that ride. How did yeah, the blood rushing to your head?
Speaker 2: Like did it even? Was it even confusing at some
Speaker 2: point mentally because all the blood's going into your head.
Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, definitely. I just remember my head feeling
Speaker 4: like foggy, like you can't even really think, you know
Speaker 4: what I mean, especially after so long, You're just like
Speaker 4: get me down, Like that's really all you can think
Speaker 4: is like I need to get down because you like
Speaker 4: really go into like a fight or flight almost because
Speaker 4: like I mean, you can't fight.
Speaker 2: Or li though, neither option available to you, which is
Speaker 2: very frustrating and scary. Were they talking, I know they
Speaker 2: had like a megaphone. What were they saying to you?
Speaker 2: Did it help? Did it make you all feel better?
Speaker 4: I mean they had megaphones, but we like could not
Speaker 4: really we heard them, but it was really hard to
Speaker 4: understand what they were saying and the things they were saying.
Speaker 4: It was just like okay because they were just saying like, oh,
Speaker 4: take deep breaths and everything.
Speaker 5: I'm like, like I cannot take an aps, like I
Speaker 5: am restrained here. I'm sorry, but maybe you could take
Speaker 5: the deep breath for me because I was. I was
Speaker 5: druggling already, have asthma.
Speaker 1: Oh hell, you don't tell how high up you're at
Speaker 1: the top of the ride, ninety nine feet up so
Speaker 1: you all can see could you see a crowd gathering
Speaker 1: down below. It just you all became a spectacle.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, people are like literally you just look down
Speaker 4: and you see like a block of phones recording you.
Speaker 2: Wow, everyone's down below looking up at you with their
Speaker 2: phones recording.
Speaker 4: Whining and like laughing and telling their friends like literally laughing.
Speaker 6: I don't like you can hear them.
Speaker 2: Did did you all have your phones on you? Or No?
Speaker 6: You didn't have If we did, everyone not have phones anymore,
Speaker 6: you would.
Speaker 3: Have dropped them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, did anyone have their phone up there?
Speaker 6: No?
Speaker 4: The only thing that someone had was a stopwatch, and
Speaker 4: they recorded how long that we were up there.
Speaker 7: That's it in time, thirty six minutes, thirty sixth Oh,
Speaker 7: can you.
Speaker 1: Take me through the progression of how it feels to
Speaker 1: be held upside down for thirty minutes? Like after five
Speaker 1: you start feeling this? After ten, can you kind of
Speaker 1: just progress to where it got I assume it had
Speaker 1: to get to a point that you thought the pain
Speaker 1: was at some point going to be unbearable.
Speaker 5: Definitely, Like, like I remember the first minute, I was
Speaker 5: just like completely fine, like everything. You're just like very
Speaker 5: confused on what's going on. But like going through the minutes,
Speaker 5: like five minutes in, I would definitely like my head
Speaker 5: started to feel lightheaded. You start to feel a blood
Speaker 5: kind of rushing to that part of your body. No
Speaker 5: like pain in my body yet, but like I could
Speaker 5: tell like I was using a lot of muscles and like, yeah,
Speaker 5: definitely trying to keep myself up and like breathing. But
Speaker 5: like ten minutes in, my legs are starting to feel
Speaker 5: a little numb buzzing, and my like deep breathing is
Speaker 5: like starting to get heavier and heavier. And I would say,
Speaker 5: like fifteen minutes in, I'm definitely like struggling and everything,
Speaker 5: and you start to feel parts of your body like
Speaker 5: go numb, and like when you're like twenty minutes in,
Speaker 5: I mean like your entire body is like almost like
Speaker 5: numb up to like where like there are strain is
Speaker 5: like to your shoulders, to your hips and everything, and
Speaker 5: you're just like struggling to breathe, and you just keep
Speaker 5: like thinking and saying things to like keep yourself awake
Speaker 5: and going what.
Speaker 1: Were those things that you were saying? Both maybe both
Speaker 1: of you and you all were sitting you or next
Speaker 1: to each other, you could communicate together easily. But you said, Dan,
Speaker 1: you said kind of just start talking to yourself. What
Speaker 1: were you saying to YOUSEA.
Speaker 5: Well, I was kind of just like I'm gonna be fine,
Speaker 5: Like I'm like, I'm gonna get back down with my family,
Speaker 5: Like I need to see my family, this is all
Speaker 5: of them. I kind of started having a conversation with
Speaker 5: Jordan and me and her were talking about like school
Speaker 5: and like how it was and like everything, trying to
Speaker 5: be like, yeah, it was pretty far in school.
Speaker 7: I actually really enjoyed it. But I'm upside down right now.
Speaker 7: But I'm just letting you know I really did have
Speaker 7: a good time this year in school.
Speaker 2: Trying to take your mind off things, Jordan were at
Speaker 2: any point, you know, did your mind go to a
Speaker 2: dark place like We're not going to get down to
Speaker 2: pass out. I'm not gonna make it.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, like almost immediately, that's where your mind goes
Speaker 4: because you see on the news. You never think it's
Speaker 4: gonna be you, but like when you're in that situation,
Speaker 4: that's there's no other place for your mind.
Speaker 2: So what thoughts, So what did your mind do when
Speaker 2: you so, yes, I can imagine I would have gone
Speaker 2: to that same dark place like I'm gonna die up here.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, what what did you think? And has
Speaker 2: that changed how you live now? Having had those real
Speaker 2: thoughts that death was possible, maybe even probably definitely.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So I mean I don't know how like realistic
Speaker 4: this is, but I was just scared that, like the
Speaker 4: sense the machine malfunctioned. I was scared that the harnesses
Speaker 4: were gonna like unlatch and we were all just literally
Speaker 4: gonna like fall and pancake or our dive, even though
Speaker 4: there is like a seatbelt strap that like buckles at
Speaker 4: the bottom. So like hypothetically, if it did like unlock
Speaker 4: or whatever, we would still be held in it would
Speaker 4: just definitely not be as sturdy or whatever. But yeah,
Speaker 4: I definitely was scared for my life.
Speaker 2: But I'm sorry, Well, I was wondering, once you have
Speaker 2: that real fear and it's based in truth, I mean,
Speaker 2: I didn't even think about that. What you just said,
Speaker 2: that maybe the harnesses could unlock a bit malfunctioned in
Speaker 2: one way, Why wouldn't it just malfunction in every way?
Speaker 2: So that Wow, that's very scary. But now that you're
Speaker 2: back down on Tara Firma on on on solid Earth,
Speaker 2: have has that experience changed how you operate how you live.
Speaker 2: I mean, you remember that feeling of I didn't get
Speaker 2: to do this. What if I never get to do that?
Speaker 2: All those things start, you know, just washing over your brain.
Speaker 2: Has it changed how you live?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 7: Oh no, you some yeah in some ways definitely.
Speaker 5: Like when I got down, I definitely like was very emotional,
Speaker 5: like you kind of like break down. You don't break
Speaker 5: down in tears, but you break down like this, like
Speaker 5: you just like kind of feel like relief.
Speaker 7: Like the biggest relief you've probably ever felt in your life.
Speaker 3: I don't.
Speaker 7: I don't think I've ever felt like that.
Speaker 5: And once I was finally down, I was like just
Speaker 5: sitting down and I was like kind of like like
Speaker 5: not like crying, but I was like like kind of
Speaker 5: like whatever that deep pant whatever you get into and
Speaker 5: like where you're just like you're really happier down, and
Speaker 5: I started like realizing how happy it is to be
Speaker 5: like living, Like I mean, to think you had a
Speaker 5: thought of death and now you're alive.
Speaker 7: It's crazy.
Speaker 5: They keep going like you, I don't think I've ever
Speaker 5: had a thought that I was ever going to die
Speaker 5: in my life like that, and then knowing that I
Speaker 5: lived it, it is just yeah, it definitely keeps your
Speaker 5: mind thinking like, wow, how important life is?
Speaker 1: Sure you mentioned thirty six minutes, right, that's the official
Speaker 1: count with the stop Watch, right that's uh, yeah, that's
Speaker 1: but it was about thirty minutes. And in that where
Speaker 1: did hope start coming in? Based on what you were
Speaker 1: seeing below, like activity, if you saw a fire truck
Speaker 1: or firefighters or where did some hope start to creep in?
Speaker 5: I would say definitely, Like I only had hope at
Speaker 5: the start of the ride. When we came by the
Speaker 5: fire department came, like I had no hope because like
Speaker 5: I'm just like watching them and they come in and
Speaker 5: they're just slowly walking and they're not even.
Speaker 7: And I'm like, come on, guys, this is our rus.
Speaker 2: Get me down.
Speaker 5: I said, they're not even Yeah, I ers said, they're
Speaker 5: not even like working on the machine. It was actually
Speaker 5: the maintenance cre at Oaks Park. So I'm like, what
Speaker 5: even is this fire department doing? Like, I'm like, why
Speaker 5: is the maintenance at Oaks Park working on it? So
Speaker 5: I guess actually the maintenance guys that Oaks Park took
Speaker 5: us down. They actually figured out later and all the
Speaker 5: fire department was there for is for like when we
Speaker 5: got down, like to like do a check up on
Speaker 5: us and everything, and if that they didn't get us down,
Speaker 5: they were gonna take us down with ropes, I guess
Speaker 5: I heard. I'm like, with ropes? How do they strap
Speaker 5: you out of harness and take you out of a rope?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 7: What are they?
Speaker 1: You've seen that in movies? I think I don't think
Speaker 1: they do it in real life.
Speaker 2: I cannot even imagine how that was.
Speaker 6: And we didn't learn that until like days later.
Speaker 2: Actually, Wow, when you were up there, I was fascinated.
Speaker 2: You said some people did pass out you thought you
Speaker 2: were getting close to it. How many, like how many
Speaker 2: people passed out while they were up there?
Speaker 7: I would say in probably like six five people and
Speaker 7: not a ton.
Speaker 5: There was someone, well, there was one person with a
Speaker 5: big medical problem that did pass out and they were
Speaker 5: like rushed to the the hospital.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it is amazing. Everyone everyone was okay, do
Speaker 2: you all did you did you have a group hug
Speaker 2: afterwards like you all got down. Was there a moment
Speaker 2: where you guys just got to take it in together
Speaker 2: as a group. Did you get anyone's phone numbers? Lifelong friends?
Speaker 2: I don't know, just having the shared experience.
Speaker 7: Sadly, No, they were like all very very young kids.
Speaker 5: There was young one kid I gave a hug too,
Speaker 5: but like some of the kids up on the ride,
Speaker 5: I'm not gonna lie, like they were pretty interesting students,
Speaker 5: like I remember. I remember I got down and like
Speaker 5: we're like all still like kind of like feeling relief.
Speaker 5: And this one kid's just like standing in the corner
Speaker 5: like and like she says something like to our friend.
Speaker 5: She's like, he's like, wait, you're fourteen because the kid
Speaker 5: looks like he's like, I'm sorry, he looks like he's
Speaker 5: eight years old. And her friend's like, shut up up
Speaker 5: and like gets all mad in her face. I'm like,
Speaker 5: what else you're proby guys.
Speaker 4: Like okay, not to be disrespectful by any means. But
Speaker 4: he was so sure, like he was little. So I
Speaker 4: told him, I was like, oh my gosh, like are
Speaker 4: you okay? Like you're little, Like are you okay? And
Speaker 4: he's like I'm fourteen. Oh, He's like, oh he's fourteen,
Speaker 4: so you can just shut up.
Speaker 2: Wow. So there wasn't a camaraderie or a spirit of
Speaker 2: thank god we all got through this together. Wow. Quite
Speaker 2: the going to check on him.
Speaker 3: I was trying to yell.
Speaker 1: Came down and hated each other. Give me away from
Speaker 1: these people.
Speaker 2: Beer brings out the best and worst in people, apparently.
Speaker 3: Well, how did they think?
Speaker 1: You said? The maintenance folks got it down, so they
Speaker 1: essentially got the ride operating again, right, and you know
Speaker 1: how did it go?
Speaker 3: How did it work?
Speaker 6: No?
Speaker 4: I mean essentially they kind of just like took a
Speaker 4: big crowbar, I guess, and pushed it so it swung back.
Speaker 6: Down, I.
Speaker 1: Know, but it ended up going back to it's the
Speaker 1: position it was in when you first boarded, right.
Speaker 6: Yeah, but it had to we had to finish the ride.
Speaker 6: It just it swung until it's.
Speaker 2: Oh you ride the ride after that?
Speaker 3: How fun? Was that?
Speaker 5: Not?
Speaker 4: Great?
Speaker 6: The best way to come down?
Speaker 3: Did did they let you all know that? Wait? Say
Speaker 3: that again?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 3: No, what did you say, Daniel?
Speaker 7: I said?
Speaker 5: I was feeling the thrill seek of the ride again.
Speaker 5: I was screaming and cheering.
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, we were screaming and cheering because we were
Speaker 6: gonna live.
Speaker 1: Did they let you all know what the bullhorns that
Speaker 1: that was the plan or the machine or just started
Speaker 1: moving again? And y'all didn't know if you were actually
Speaker 1: going down or it's gonna break again or what right?
Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, we didn't know that we were gonna
Speaker 4: be okay and that women was going to be fixed
Speaker 4: until you feel it like click into moving, Like I remember,
Speaker 4: we start moving and I literally like broke down, but
Speaker 4: you're so dehydrated, and then like dran, there's no tears.
Speaker 6: You're just like like relieved, Yes, so relieved you're gonna
Speaker 6: like live.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm always curious in situations like this, there's
Speaker 1: always one class clown. Was anybody up there cracking jokes
Speaker 1: or trying to keep everybody loose or anything like that.
Speaker 5: No, everybody was pretty straight face serious. They getting next
Speaker 5: to me though, he was like he was like, you
Speaker 5: look a lot like my friend, and he like started
Speaker 5: telling me everything about his friend and kind of just
Speaker 5: like talking. Everybody I think was talking to each other.
Speaker 5: I think the kid that was did throw up on himself.
Speaker 5: I heard some jokes get made about him, because how
Speaker 5: do you project awl vomit.
Speaker 7: All over yourself? I'm pretty interested in that, Like.
Speaker 4: Imagine we're upside down right now, like we're looking at
Speaker 4: the ground and he vomits on himself, Like, how.
Speaker 2: Did that work with gravity? How did that work?
Speaker 4: Correct?
Speaker 2: It doesn't make any sense, but thank god it didn't
Speaker 2: get on anyone else. Uh, were you guys immediately able
Speaker 2: to call your parents? And what was that like when
Speaker 2: you got down?
Speaker 5: I had immediately called my mom And even when she
Speaker 5: called her parents, parents actually didn't really have crazy if
Speaker 5: a reaction.
Speaker 7: They were like, you're alive, I'm glad, and then that
Speaker 7: was pretty much like it was like, it's like, lukey
Speaker 7: did not care. I'm like our siblings, like she told
Speaker 7: her brother, and her brother's like, you know, you're still alive. Okay,
Speaker 7: why should I be worried about you?
Speaker 6: Okay?
Speaker 1: But they give you a little more grace once they
Speaker 1: saw the video and know how big of a story.
Speaker 1: No still now, no, really they did not care.
Speaker 7: I was like, yeah, have been suspended upside down.
Speaker 6: Like you go sad down and see how it is?
Speaker 1: Well, I only I only have a couple more things here.
Speaker 1: One is something you said earlier, Daniel. You said you
Speaker 1: you wanted to say a prayer or you wanted to
Speaker 1: include anybody while you were up there that maybe wanted
Speaker 1: to be involved and just saying a prayer. What why
Speaker 1: did your I don't know your background, how you were
Speaker 1: raised in the church and everything else. But but why
Speaker 1: was that something you went towards for for or for
Speaker 1: I guess for comfort at the time. And what was
Speaker 1: that prayer?
Speaker 5: Well, I think I went towards it for comfort because
Speaker 5: even when a lot of people are in like tough
Speaker 5: like stress situations, they don't even some people don't might
Speaker 5: not even believe in God. But putting your hope in
Speaker 5: the littlest things when you're in a tough position, even
Speaker 5: just like God is like a good thing. And I
Speaker 5: don't even have a strong background as God, but I
Speaker 5: know even saying like something that I can put my
Speaker 5: hope into does give me the littlest of hope. And
Speaker 5: I definitely that like sees meeting throughout people. I'd say,
Speaker 5: and what was what was the rest of your question?
Speaker 3: You said, well, no, no, what the prayer was.
Speaker 5: Oh the prayer. The prayer was just like saying like,
Speaker 5: we're all going to get through this. You know, this
Speaker 5: is these are like a tough this is like a
Speaker 5: tough time. We are dangling up in the air kind
Speaker 5: of just like saying like what we're going through, but
Speaker 5: we are going to make it through. And relieving, like
Speaker 5: all of your stress, and I kind of like let
Speaker 5: the kid next to me speak, you know, say what
Speaker 5: he wanted to say, and I kind of just left
Speaker 5: it off with amen. And I don't know how many
Speaker 5: people followed around like around because I can't see everybody,
Speaker 5: but I don't know how many people held hands together.
Speaker 5: But I did try to hold hands with Jordan and
Speaker 5: the kid next to me, and anythink he held hands
Speaker 5: with the kid beside him.
Speaker 2: That's so beautiful that I'm sure had to give so
Speaker 2: much comfort to people, especially the younger kids who were
Speaker 2: around you, who I'm sure were incredibly scared. So that
Speaker 2: was so kind of you, and that's a beautiful thing
Speaker 2: that came out of it. I love that you did that.
Speaker 7: Thank you.
Speaker 2: I would love to know what your takeaway is from
Speaker 2: all of this, Jordan, Do you have a takeaway?
Speaker 7: Oh?
Speaker 6: I have a takeaway.
Speaker 4: I just don't know if I can really trust those
Speaker 4: rides anymore. Like, honestly, you will not catch me on then,
Speaker 4: at least anytime soon, maybe not ever. It's just you
Speaker 4: think you're gonna be so safe and then when you're not,
Speaker 4: Like that's just kind of a trust. You can't really
Speaker 4: gain back in my opinion, you know what I mean, Like,
Speaker 4: I truly feared for my life in that moment one
Speaker 4: and I don't want.
Speaker 6: To go through that again.
Speaker 3: Daniel.
Speaker 5: I'd say my takeaway is probably definitely like, know what
Speaker 5: you're getting yourself into.
Speaker 7: You can't trust every ride you're about to go on to.
Speaker 7: There's a I mean, it's.
Speaker 5: Called astro fear. It says fear in the name, So
Speaker 5: maybe you should listen a little more to the finance
Speaker 5: what this ride might be getting you into. But I
Speaker 5: definitely would say trust what you're going on. Know what
Speaker 5: you're getting yourself into. It's not always the safest option.
Speaker 5: Even when you go to have a fun day, you
Speaker 5: don't you don't know, something could malfunction. I think it's
Speaker 5: perfect in this world. There's problems, definitely, and they need
Speaker 5: to get fixed.
Speaker 6: It was our first ride of the day too. We
Speaker 6: had just got to the park.
Speaker 2: It was opening day too, correct, it was. It was
Speaker 2: brand new for the season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so Oaks Ride, I think Oaks Park is the
Speaker 1: name of the amusement park. They call you guys up
Speaker 1: and say, hey, we're going to be reopening the ride atmosphere.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have a big celebration, and we want you
Speaker 1: to to be the first too, to take a ride
Speaker 1: as we reopen. Would you do I'd be like.
Speaker 7: Did y'all?
Speaker 3: Fix?
Speaker 7: Says right, I'm looking down.
Speaker 2: Jordan. I saw you shaking your head violently.
Speaker 6: No, oh, absolutely not.
Speaker 4: I mean I'm just I'm good on carnival rides and
Speaker 4: all of that for right now. I mean, like you
Speaker 4: could catch me in Disneyland, because that's like not scary,
Speaker 4: that's just fun, big like thrill seeking rides like that,
Speaker 4: like the pure adrenaline rush rides. I'm okay for a
Speaker 4: while at least, like even like carnivals and county fairs
Speaker 4: and everything, Like I think I'm okay.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 1: I think that's a good policy, uh, Jordan, and I
Speaker 1: am on board with that. But think it's good to
Speaker 1: see you all on on solid ground.
Speaker 3: You're sitting.
Speaker 1: We we were gonna turn this uh we could see
Speaker 1: you on the screen here. We're gonna turn it upside
Speaker 1: down to try to get a good vantage point of
Speaker 1: you tube from how it was. But it's good ride,
Speaker 1: and really it's to be honest with you, you never
Speaker 1: know where you're gonna find wisdom. I find wisdom sometimes
Speaker 1: can passed for your old kid. He might say something
Speaker 1: on the street here in New York. But you two
Speaker 1: are young, your teenagers, seventeen and eighteen. But you all
Speaker 1: said several things along the way that we were very
Speaker 1: mature that all of us can take away with us.
Speaker 1: And I'm just very impressed that had you all handled
Speaker 1: yourselves during it, and how you're handling yourselves now, and
Speaker 1: just the composure and for you, Daniel, to go up
Speaker 1: there and try to comfort others, comfort kids that were
Speaker 1: younger than you got just I just think it's huge,
Speaker 1: and you will sound very mature and to have turned
Speaker 1: something now it'll impact your lives. But you all said
Speaker 1: a few things here that that are worth repeating, and
Speaker 1: a lot of more people are going to hear it.
Speaker 1: So I just want to commend you both for being
Speaker 1: the kids you are.
Speaker 7: Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Thank you all well, Daniel and Jordan I helpe you
Speaker 2: have a peaceful rest of your summer, and thank you
Speaker 2: for being on the podcast with us. And we're just
Speaker 2: so glad you and everyone else was safe.
Speaker 7: Yeah, thank you, Yes, Sam, guys for you, thank you
Speaker 7: they were great.
Speaker 1: Really, that was I love it. I didn't realize initially
Speaker 1: that they were seventeen and eighteen, and there was a
Speaker 1: there's a youth, there was a although there's something to the
Speaker 1: way they have lived life and see life coming that
Speaker 1: I think makes them the perfect most qualified people to
Speaker 1: get stuck. I would not have handled myself that well.
Speaker 2: I would not have handled myself as well either, and
Speaker 2: I don't care how I would tears definitely would have
Speaker 2: been flowing. I would have probably gone into full panic.
Speaker 2: So yeah, and I think maybe that that when you're
Speaker 2: that age, you do feel indestructible and you don't think
Speaker 2: bad things are going to happen. So when something bad happens,
Speaker 2: they were able to take that positive, youthful energy and
Speaker 2: turn it into something good for everyone around there.
Speaker 1: Thank goodness, this park did not have thirty forty year
Speaker 1: olds up.
Speaker 2: There in a death spiral up.
Speaker 1: There's no way we would have tore that park up
Speaker 1: after we got that, But congrats to them for it,
Speaker 1: and again everybody was Okay, these things do happen from
Speaker 1: time to time, and who knows why, they'll do their
Speaker 1: investigation and all that, but glad to.
Speaker 2: See them down all right, Well, thank you all for listening.
Speaker 2: Hope you got some great nuggets out of their youthful wisdom.
Speaker 2: We certainly did, so have a wonderful day, and we'll
Speaker 2: see you soon