A Missouri couple is being praised as heroes after saving a young girl whose seatbelt came undone mid-ride on a roller coaster — a terrifying moment signaled by her “blood-curdling scream.”
The incident occurred on October 11 at the Worlds of Fun amusement park in Kansas City, according to KCTV5. Chris and Cassie Evins had just boarded the Mamba roller coaster when disaster nearly struck.
“We got on the roller coaster, and as we went over the very first hill, the girl sitting behind my wife let out this blood-curdling scream like I’ve never heard before,” Chris Evins told the outlet.
The terrifying ordeal unfolded on Oct. 11 at the Worlds of Fun amusement park in Kansas City, where Chris and Cassie Evins had climbed into a car on the Mamba roller coaster.
At first, Chris assumed the scream behind them came from a first-time rider simply panicking. But then the young girl shouted out the alarming reason for her fear.
“She said, ‘My seatbelt came undone,’” he recalled.
Acting immediately, the couple worked together to hold the girl in place as the coaster raced along the tracks at speeds reaching 75 mph.
“I wrapped my arm under her lap bar — there was a huge gap between her and the bar, no seatbelt,” Chris explained. “I grabbed her wrist and held on. My wife was pressing down on her legs to keep her steady.”
As longtime season pass holders, the pair knew the coaster’s sharp turns and steep drops, helping them brace the girl through every twist until the ride finally ended.
A ride camera captured the terrifying moment the young girl screamed in panic as Chris and Cassie Evins held her in place on the speeding roller coaster.
“As we crested each hill or started climbing to the top, I realized it was going to lift her out of her seat,” Chris Evins said. “So I shifted my position — instead of just holding her, I pushed down on her whole body to keep her from coming out of the seat while we went over those hills.”
The couple managed to keep the girl secure until the ride came to a stop.
A photo taken by the ride’s camera showed the girl’s face frozen in terror as the Evinses fought to keep her from falling out of the fast-moving coaster.
“Afterward, I just kept thinking — what if it had been someone else sitting in our seats? What if her friends had been there instead?” Chris reflected.
In the chaos that followed, the couple became separated from the girl and her family and never had the chance to speak with them — but they’re simply grateful the story ended safely.
“You know, it could have been a drastically different outcome,” Chris said.
After the ride came to a stop, the chaos separated the Evinses from the young girl, and they never had the chance to speak with her or her family — but they’re simply thankful she’s safe.
Worlds of Fun told KCTV5 that the Mamba was immediately shut down after the incident and underwent a thorough inspection.
“The ride has undergone a comprehensive safety review, and we have implemented modifications requested by the Fire Marshal to ensure it meets or exceeds all applicable safety standards before reopening to guests this evening,” a park spokesperson said.
According to the Missouri Department of Public Safety, the Mamba had previously passed an inspection on April 25. However, a “spot inspection” conducted on October 30 led to the ride being temporarily shut down.
Following repairs and another inspection later that same day, the department said the roller coaster was cleared to reopen.
