‘I was thinking I was going to die’: Teenage girl’s hair is ripped from her scalp after it got stuck in a go-kart engine at a Virginia amusement park – forcing paramedics to cut the vehicle apart to lift her out
- WARNING: Graphic Images
- Matia Ruffin, 16, was left traumatized after her hair was ripped from her scalp at Fun Land in Fredericksburg over the weekend
- Cell phone footage shows paramedics working to free the girl from the vehicle, which left Ruffin with a large bald spot and in a lot of pain
- Unique Coleman, Ruffin’s mother, shared that the family had been on the new multi-level go-kart race track when she heard the frantic screaming
- Coleman and Fun Land employees used two knives and wire cutters to try to cut Ruffin free but just left her in more pain before authorities arrived
- Paramedics had to take apart the vehicle and use a harness to retrieve the teen
- The high school sophomore is beyond distraught since losing her shoulder-length hair, unable to return to school
A teenage girl had her hair ripped from her scalp after her braid got caught in the engine of a go-kart at a Virginia amusement park.
Matia Ruffin, 16, was left trapped in the vehicle in agony after the accident at Fun Land in Fredericksburg.
Cell phone footage shows paramedics working to free the girl from the vehicle after the incident, which left Ruffin with a large bald spot.
Matia Ruffin, 16, was left traumatized after her hair was ripped from her scalp at Fun Land in Fredericksburg
The accident left Ruffin with a large bald spot and in a lot of pain
‘I was thinking I was going to die,’ the Richmond resident explained to 8News. ‘I thought that was my last time.’
Unique Coleman, Ruffin’s mother, shared that the family had been on the new multi-level go-kart race track when she heard the frantic screaming.
‘My first instinct was I got to get her out of this go-kart,’ Coleman said. ‘She was panicking and her legs were up in the air, um, her head was kind of leaned and tilted back.’
Unique Coleman, Ruffin’s mother, shared that the family had been on the new multi-level go-kart race track when she heard the frantic screaming
Ruffin’s braid was stuck for what felt like an hour, the teen shared.
‘It was horrible. It was scary, horrifying, it was bad,’ Ruffin said.
Coleman and Fun Land employees used two knives and wire cutters to try to cut Ruffin free but just left her in more pain before authorities arrived.
Paramedics had to take the vehicle apart and use a harness to free the teen.
Coleman and Fun Land employees used two knives and wire cutters to try to cut Ruffin free but just left her in more pain before authorities arrived. Paramedics had to take apart the vehicle and use a harness to retrieve the teen
‘She had a blood clot where her scalp actually lifted from her skull,’ the mother said.
The high school sophomore is beyond distraught since losing her shoulder-length hair, unable to return to school
The high school sophomore is beyond distraught since losing her shoulder-length hair, and has been unable to return to school.
‘It’s completely bald, there’s nothing there,’ she said. ‘I’m self-conscious, scared to show people. I’m stuck with it for life. I have nightmares about it. I think about it all the time.’
On their website, Fun Land states that visitors with hair longer than their shoulder have to have it secured. Ruffin asserted that hers was tied but became loose because of high speed.
‘The staff, I didn’t feel like they were equipped to handle any emergency situation,’ Coleman added.
Fun Land personnel stressed that no incident like this has happened previously and said that safety policies were in place to handle emergency situations.
Fun Land personnel stressed that no incident like this has happened previously and said that safety policies were in place to handle emergency situations