A Melbourne woman says she’s lucky her foot is “still in one piece” after bending it in half in a gruesome injury on a Gold Coast ride.
TikTok user Pippa Sutherland, 22, posted a video of the incident at the Slingshot Surfers Paradise attraction last month.
In the clip, which has been viewed more than 5 million times, she is seen sitting in the seat with her friend as the ride returns to the starting position.
Her bare left foot gets caught on the metal stopper.
“Ow my foot, my foot,” she says, as the seat continues to move forwards.
“Oh no! Her foot,” another friend can be heard shouting.
Ms Sutherland’s foot bends in an unnatural direction as she yells out in pain.
Another video showed her being wheeled in a hospital chair before limping out with her foot wrapped.
“Surprised my foot is still in one piece after that,” she wrote, adding in a comment that the incident left her with “sprained toes”.
She replied to another comment that “I definitely would’ve moved it if I could … I was terrified”.
Ms Sutherland posted the longer video in response to a comment requesting to see the footage.
“Before you all ask, no I don’t go on rides often,” she wrote in the caption.
She explained that “we were not instructed to keep our legs out at any point, my foot was just in the wrong place at the wrong time”.
“And as you can see my foot was not resting on the stopper, from the point of contact it was stuck,” she said.
“Lawsuit,” one TikTok user said. “Lawyer, for sure,” another agreed.
But Ms Sutherland said she was “not suing, the staff were lovely and sincerely sorry for what happened”.
The two videos together have been viewed more than 9 million times since last month.
“OK, forget the ‘why are you resting your feet there?’ … How about where are your shoes and who let you on without them??!” one person commented.
“That’s soo dangerous! Something definitely needs to be done about this and changed so that something worse doesn’t happen,” another said.
Slingshot Surfers Paradise has been contacted for comment.
“Experience the thrill of a lifetime with our Slingshot ride in Surfers Paradise, Australia,” the website reads, describing it as “one of the most exhilarating rides ever”.
“Launch into the air at speeds up to 160km/hour!”
The safety information section explains that the Slingshot is a “two-person capsule that is attached to steel cables and propels riders in the air”.
“Riders will experience weightlessness, rapid movements from side to side and rapidly changing forces,” it says.
“Two riders need to have a combined weight of 60kg and be over 125cm. Shoulder harnesses with a between-the-legs safety belt secures each rider over the head and across the chest.”