Second victim in Alton Towers Smiler accident requires amputation

This is absolutely terrible. I think this is the worst ride related accident I've seen since I started really liking amusement parks.

This and the Kentucky Kingdom drop ride accident both trouble me about the same. This story just makes me feel ill sometimes. My love for roller coasters just makes reading about this even worse.

I feel great relief that no one was killed though. That's something positive.

The Big Thunder DLR accident immediately jumps to mind. That was over ten years ago, but involved a fatality and happened at a Disney park.

This accident was so tragic. You never think something like this can happen while you're enjoying a peaceful day at the park. I'm just glad Regulus wasn't at the park that day...

Another person gets an amputation and yet we're more worried about making a joke at Regulus' expense. Wow.

I'm kind of surprised you're surprised, Tekwardo. I mean, one bad block braking system really can ruin it for everyone.

In all seriousness, this IS terrible. I read about this a day or so ago, and my heart went out to this girl. She underwent so much surgery, which is traumatic by itself, and it was basically for nothing. She probably had so much hope that she would keep her leg, and to have that hope crushed after everything she's been through...I pray this is it and they do not have to amputate further, and I pray for the rest of the accident victims to have no further complications or latent injuries that add to their pain.

I'm not sure I get what you were saying in the first part of your post.

Personally, I find it in poor taste to bring up a hate filled biggot and make a joke at his expense when the topic is how someone loses a limb from what looks to be a totally avoidable accident.

Are you offended again, Tekwardo? I thought it was funny. Sometimes a little humor is helpful in dealing with terrible situations.

I didn't think the joke was funny, myself. But yes, humor is sometimes a way to deal with tragedy, and I think more so in situations like this, where we're looking, from a distance, at the suffering of people we don't know.

Curious, Bunky. Do incidents like this ever make you think twice your desire to be a park nurse? You have a lot of compassion, but band aids and vomit is one thing. This would surely be another.

That's a good question, RCMAC. Honestly, I don't know. I don't think as a park nurse that I'd have much to do with climbing onto trains and working on critically injured patients, as the EMTs and specially trained rescue teams would be the more appropriate and more likely source for catastrophes like this. There are a lot of reasons I WOULDN'T want to be a park nurse, as well as a lot of reasons I would, but I probably wouldn't be faced with a crisis like this. That's just a guess though. I could be totally wrong on what's expected of a park nurse. They have to have extensive training I never thought they would have to have, so maybe they have to work on rescues like this.

In that case, it wouldn't be the horrible wounds or blood or anything that would be the issue. It would be the fear of climbing up high, crawling over seats high up, worrying about falling or dropping someone, etc. I gotta give those guys doing that rescue all the credit and praise in the world. Not everyone can do what they do, and they're so under appreciated much of the time. The things they go through, and the things they see and have to deal with physically and emotionally seriously make a lot of other medical jobs look like a walk in the park. They're heroes.

LostKause said:
Are you offended again, Tekwardo? I thought it was funny. Sometimes a little humor is helpful in dealing with terrible situations.

Yes Travis, I don't think making a joke about someone not in any way involved is appropriate in a thread about a serious accident. Why even give Regulus the power he gets here? He *likes* it when people persecute him. It makes him feel right.

Would you approve if this thread was about SRM 2003? The girl who lost her feet at Kentucky Kingdom? The paralyzed girl that fell in the dells?

Now who's trying to start drama? It's always okay when you're not offended, and that's all that matters. I've ignored your pointless posts for a while, but you always have to bring it back to me and you when this wasn't even directed at you.

Guys, how about we all agree to not feed the troll this time around? Let's everyone not take the bait and just not respond to him. He does this every month, and it's long grown old. Hell, you can plot out his menstrual cycle in advance based on his monthly trolling. Nobody wants to read another 2 pages of the usual garbage, until Jeff has to step in and send everyone to bed without their supper. He's always trying to pick fights with Travis or Jeff. In the past it was Carrie, and once a few years ago even Bunky. So I'll just consider myself in good company this month.

So Tek, I'll leave you with one final image.

Sure, go ahead and come across as an insensitive prick. I'm not the one that looks bad making poor jokes

I'm not going to reply to the leading questions or respond to the negativity. Lately I've realized that I'm tired of the droves of people who get so heated at whatever the offensive flavor-of-the-month is. It feels good to lighten up a little. Being dramatic all the time is tiresome. Life's too short. In other words, I don't care at all to participate in a discussion about subjective opinions about a small joke and if it was funny or offensive.

Perhaps the subject is too disturbing for a real conversation, and so we have to have a conversation about a joke within the conversation. I've said it a few times now; this accident was pretty brutal. I can't imagine the pain this accident has caused those involved.

"This was really disturbing and I don't like Regulus so any joke at his expense, regardless of how inappropriate, is fine by me, because making fun of people I don't like is okay."

Another person gets an amputation and yet we're more worried about making sure that we're right in a worthless argument on the internet. Wow.

SMH That Tekwardo is such a sensitive guy. :D

Comedy Writing 101: Make fun of things people do not like. Laughter is the release of the tension that the subject of the joke produces. That the joke was inappropriate is subjective. You can cry that you were offended at a joke that wasn't in any way directed at you, or you can grow a pair and let it slide... and maybe chuckle a little.