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WINNIPEG — A teenager who wasn’t expected to survive after being hit by a roller coaster in 2013 is now suing the Red River Ex.
Adam Martens became a quadriplegic at 16, when a car on the Crazy Mouse Roller Coaster hit him at a speed of 40 kilometers an hour. Martens, now 18, is confined to a wheelchair and cannot speak.
Before he was hit, Martens was an active teen who liked to skate, ride his quad, BMX biking and horses, and had planted his own garden, his mother said Wednesday.
“It’s been challenging to say the least,” Priscilla Meeches said about her son’s injuries.
On June 20, 2013, Martens hat blew off when he was on the Crazy Mouse roller coaster at the Ex. It fell into a fenced off restricted area. According to family, when Martens asked an operator to get it for him, the operator refused. Martens then went through a gap in the fence to get his hat and was hit by the roller coaster.
READ MORE: Boy remains in critical condition after Ex accident
The family is suing the Red River Exhibition Association, Red River Exhibition Foundation, North American Midway Entertainment and three ride operators.
A statement of claim filed in court Tuesday states the defendants failed to set up a proper fenced and secure perimeter to deter children from entering the area where the cars proceed on the tracks, and failed to take reasonable care to provide written or verbal notice to persons riding the Crazy Mouse ride not to wear baseball caps and not to attempt to retrieve baseball caps following the ride.
“We all know as teenagers we make stupid decisions that’s part of growing up, unfortunately this decision cost him his enjoyment in life,” said Meeches.
The family is seeking an undisclosed amount but wants medical and travel expenses covered.
“I want the fair to be safe for other people,” said Meeches, “if they could just take the time to stop the ride every two hours so people can collect their things.”
He’s now back in school but “he’ll never walk again or use his body like he did,” his mother said.
The family has moved to Winnipeg in order to be closer to his doctor but don’t have a proper vehicle to suit Martens wheelchair. His family says Martens is depressed because he doesn’t leave the apartment.
“Everyday I come over here to visit him,” said his sister Cheyanne Martens, “and he’s just laying in his bed watching TV that’s what he does all day, it’s sad.”
They want to buy a handi-van to drive Martens around, even just to go see a river and have started a gofundme page to raise the $50,000 it will cost.
They hope just getting him out of the apartment will maybe bring a smile to his face again.
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