A ferris wheel at the Green County Fair malfunctioned on August 8th, causing three riders to fall thirty feet.
The victims were three girls – two sisters, age 6 and 10, and a 16-year-old.
The six-year-old remains in critical condition after suffering traumatic brain injury from the fall.
Yesterday, Johnson City Medical Center"s director of trauma services Dr. Bracken Burns updated reporters on her status.
According to Dr. Bracken Burns, director of trauma services for Johnson City Medical Center, the youngest of the victims, a 6-year-old, suffered the head injury and had to be intubated at the scene and taken to a hospital.
"She has been under the continual care of the pediatric surgery service, the pediatric intensive care unit team as well as the neurosurgery team," Dr. Burns explained during a press conference.
The girl"s older sister sustained injuries to her forearm. The oldest victim"s condition has improved from critical to stable, though her family requested that further details not be released.
The accident happened around 6:15 p.m. local time, when police confirmed that the riders fell out of the car they were in when it flipped.
"One of the cars or baskets had overturned and three children had fallen out. They fell a distance of anywhere between 35 and 45 feet," Greenville police department captain Capt. Tim Davis told reporters, according to NPR.
One witness,Gregory Lynthacum spoke ABC News as well, recalling the horror he witnessed.
"I was hollering, "Please stop! Stop! Stop the machine!" It seemed like it was a millennium before it stopped," Lynthacum said.
"I"d seen blood coming from their mouth. I actually thought they were dead. It was so horrific."
Authorities have not yet figured out what caused the malfunction, but prior to the accident, the Greeneville Sun reported that the amusement company that owns the ferris wheel was fined for safety-related violations in North Carolina in 2013.
Family Attractions Amusement was accused of tampering with a ride"s "safety feature" after it malfunctioned, so that it would continue to run.
The accident occurred just one day after a 10-year-old Kansas boy was decapitated by a water slide.
