Man Injured On C.N.E. Ride Demands Warning Sign

A lot depends on whose version you believe after a Toronto man claims he suffered a significant injury while at the C.N.E. Midway over the weekend.

Sunil Ramsaywack was on the Niagara Falls Log Ride Saturday night when something went very wrong very fast.

He believes the momentum of gravity pushed his head forward beyond the cushioned safety bar during the ride’s downhill plunge and a piece of metal located somewhere in the car clipped him in the head.

“When it hit the water, my whole upper body went down, hit the cushion in front, and my head slide under the cushion and hit some metal thing under there or something,” he recalls. “I put my hands on my head and I could see a lot of blood.”

The Exhibition visitor wound up with a deep gash, 16 staples and three internal stitches for his trouble, along with blood stained clothing.

“I feel very weak, very weak,” he reveals three days later. “I feel so weak, I can’t even get up — and I feel dizzy. Like my head is still hurting me.”

Sunil’s concern isn’t so much for his own injury as someone else’s. He’s worried that a child who encounters a similar effect may not get off as lightly as he did. And he wants officials to take his complaint more seriously.

But C.N.E. experts examined the ride and shut it down for several hours after the incident to make sure all safety measures were met.

They claim Ramsaywack used ‘irregular behaviour’ while sitting in the passenger seat and haven’t made any changes to the attraction. And they took plains to point out to CityNews that there isn’t any ‘metal’ in the cushion where Sunil was hit.  

“It’s lined with just simply fibre glass,” explains Amber Swedgan of the North American Midway Company. “[There are] no sharp objects or anything up at the front here.”

And the turn Sunil complained about barely shook up our camera.

At the moment there’s no warning on the Niagara Falls ride that tells patrons to make sure they don’t lean forward.   But there are other safety signs posted throughout the area.   And officials are adamant that they checked into his claims and didn’t find them valid.

“We inspected all the cars, we did a thorough investigation,” maintains Swedgan.

But Sunil counters his experience proves something went wrong. He’s waiting to hear more from his doctor about his injuries before he makes any decisions about taking legal action.  

In the meantime, the C.N.E. is continuing to probe the case, but insists the ride is safe and it doesn’t need to be shut down.