Fairground ride falls apart mid-air as student, 19, taken to hospital

This is the terrifying moment a fairground ride broke and hit a student.

Caitlin Colclough, 19, was riding the ‘Superstar’ ride at the University of Chester’s ‘Chestival’ event when a large panel came away and flew towards her on Wednesday.

It hit two cartloads of students, only narrowly missing people stood to the side watching the ride.

Caitlin was struck by the large piece of metal and was rushed to hospital after suffering concussion and whiplash.

Her mum Mandy Hancock told StokeOnTrentlive: ‘I was crying my eyes out watching the video.

‘When I watched in slow motion it was very, very scary. It has given me a few nightmares.

‘I don’t know if she heard the bang or not, because obviously there was a lot of screaming on the ride from people on it and enjoying it.

‘The piece landed on them, but the ride kept going. I thought it would have had an emergency stop.

It hit two cartloads of students, only narrowly missing people stood to the side watching the ride (Picture: Stoke Live/BPM Media)

The Health and Safety Executive has launched an investigation into what happened.

Chester Students’ Union said the ride was provided by an external operator.

But Mandy said there has been ‘radio silence’ from the union and the University.

She said: ‘Staff at Countess of Chester Hospital said the concussion can take a few weeks to resolve.

‘She’s having blurred vision and really bad headaches, and she’s going dizzy when she stands up which makes her feel sick.

‘It’s disappointing how it has been handled post-accident. The support that has been in place has been very limited. 

‘I would never say a bad word about Chester Uni, because up until this point it has been very positive, but it’s just looking at what can change moving forward.’

Jamie Morris, Chief Executive Officer of Chester Students’ Union, said: ‘There was an incident involving a fairground ride at Chestival (a Chester Students’ Union organised event held at Exton Park Campus) on Wednesday 27 March, and the ride was closed immediately.

‘Two students were taken to hospital as a precaution and were discharged on the same day. Both the Students’ Union and the University’s Wellbeing team has been in close contact with the students throughout to offer support.

‘The incident has been reported to the HSE to pick up with the external ride operator as necessary.’

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