A Petaluma woman on Thursday described the horrific scene at the Sonoma-Marin Fair carnival worker was struck Wednesday by a roller coaster, amputating his leg, and how several fair-goers jumped into action to help the injured man.
Yvonne Schleth and her husband, Darrin, were enjoying the first hours of the fair's opening day with several members of their extended family when they saw the Wacky Worm train strike the man from behind, tossing him off the tracks.
"I saw the guy on the railing, and when he started down the track, I didn't see him any more," she said. "All of a sudden, we heard the thud and the screaming. My husband jumped the fence and was holding the guy down."
The man lost the portion of his leg below his knee. Schleth believes it was his left leg, although the scene remains chaotic in her mind.
After hearing the man scream, the couple ran toward him and saw him bleeding profusely. His severed foot and lower leg was several feet away, she said.
Schleth's husband called 911 while she and others guided riders from the 12-person roller coaster, which had been full of children and their parents.
The man, whose name has been withheld by fair officials, emergency rescue workers and state safety investigators, underwent surgery at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital late Wednesday night. Hospital officials wouldn't reveal his condition without a name.
It wasn't possible to reattach the severed leg, fair spokeswoman Vicki DeArmon said.
Cal-OSHA inspectors cleared the ride and its operator of any suspicion of malfunction, and said the amusement ride company, Midway of Fun, adequately trained its employees.
A final report on workplace safety and training issues will be complete in three to four months, said Cal-OSHA Deputy Director of Communications Dean Fryer.
Witnesses, including a Petaluma woman who was riding in the first car of the Wacky Worm, said the man was standing on the tracks with his back toward the moving train, holding a soda in his hand.
He would have had to move a segment of portable metal fencing to enter the ride's gated enclosure, Midway of Fun chief Harry Mason said.
Schleth said that after the collision she ran across the ride platform to the spot on the ground where the man had been thrown. He was lying on his stomach, speaking in Spanish and groaning in pain.
She called for someone to bring a bucket of ice in which to place the severed limb in an effort to preserve it so that it might be reattached. She and her husband tried to comfort the man, keep him immobile and prevent him from seeing his injury.
"It was a reaction," Schleth said. "My husband and I just went. We worked pretty well together I guess.
"I just pray for the guy. I hope he's going to be OK, hope he walks again someday."
Schleth said this wasn't the first time members of her family have been called upon to assist others at the fair. Her brother helped save two people several years apart, one who had to be resuscitated and another who had passed out at the horse races.
While fair activities resumed shortly after the 2:15 p.m. incident Wednesday, the mood among carnival workers was somber a day later, Mason said. "We've never had an injury even close to this," he said. "It's sobering.
"We're going to follow up many, many times through the next few days to check on him to make sure he's OK."
He said the injured man's wife requested that he not release his name. "I have to respect that. . . . He's in his room, resting and sleeping," said Mason.
OSHA cleared the roller coaster for use and Mason said it could in operation Thursday night.
There appeared to be no drop in midway business Thursday, Mason and DeArmon said, adding that most people were more concerned with how the injured man was faring than with worries about safety.
One person sent a bouquet of flowers to the fair offices. Mason said messages to the injured worker may also be directed to the fair office.
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