Free Fall ride removed from Sydney Royal Easter Show after boy left unrestrained

A popular ride has been removed from the Easter Show after a distressing photo emerged of a four-year-old boy left unrestrained.

The ride where a young boy was left without his harness secured at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show has been removed from the showgrounds.

A terrifying photo showed how close the four-year-old boy, Tristan Boustani, came to falling from the Free Fall ride after his harness was not secured on Sunday.

It was meant to be firmly secured around his body, but remained in the air above his head.

It appeared the ride had already begun its ascent to the top at about 3.50pm before onlookers alerted an employee to the distressing scene.

Sydney Royal Easter Show general manager Murray Wilton told Jim Wilson on 2GB radio on Wednesday that the ride would be removed that night as investigations continued.

JUST IN | Easter Show General Manager Murray Wilton has told Jim Wilson the 'Free Fall' ride will be removed from the showgrounds tonight as investigations continue after a boy was not secured to his seat.

— 2GB Sydney (@2GB873) April 13, 2022

The ride had been closed following the incident and NSW Fair Trading Minister Eleni Petinos announced an investigation on Monday.

“Safety is my number one priority and any operator who fails to provide the highest level of safety standards should face severe consequences and that is why I’ve instructed SafeWork NSW to explore all available avenues,” Ms Petinos said.

She added that SafeWork NSW was going to look at whether the ride should be closed for the remainder of the show, “if patrons’ safety cannot be guaranteed”.

A 4-year-old boy partially rode the Free Fall ride while entirely unharnessed. Picture: Supplied.

Tristan’s mum Sky Boustani said she thought her son, who has level one autism and ADHD, would fall because he is an energetic boy and has trouble keeping still.

“The ride just started moving and everyone just started screaming,” Ms Boustani told 7News.

“As everyone knows Tristan, he’s very impulsive. You don’t know what he’s going to do and for him to stay still is very, very hard.

“It was very panicky because I thought for sure he’s going to stand up and do something but I just had to keep talking to him.”

She said Tristan was able to jump into a tall man’s arms after a few minutes.

Distressed onlookers alerted ride operator

Show-goers reportedly yelled at the operator after spotting the unsecured boy, and she pressed the ride’s emergency stop button, The Daily Telegraph reported.

“The (operator) girl stopped the ride but didn’t get out of her booth so another father ended up getting him to climb down to him,” the boy’s mum, Sky Boustani Curtis, said.

“Myself and my husband were not tall enough to reach him,” she said.

The Free Fall ride which was closed after a child was left unrestrained on Sunday. Picture: Jonathan Ng / The Daily Telegraph

Another parent recalled watching the near-tragedy unfold and warned others taking their children to the show to be vigilant.

“Be careful parents! Sydney Royal Easter Show today. Luke captured this negligence that unfolded in front of so many patrons who had to scream in order to make that woman stop the ride,” the mum, Eva Grace, wrote to Facebook.

“The bar was never put down and she started the ride with no notice or checks.

“Make sure you’re watching the way they strap your child into a ride because clearly some of these operators are not doing their job and duty of care! Shameful, no excuses!”.

Her post received more than 3000 responses and has been shared over 2700 times.

Many claimed the incident had turned them off taking their children on any rides at the show, and some said they would no longer bother going to the show at all.

Sydney Royal Easter Show responds to near-miss

The Royal Agricultural Society of NSW released a statement announcing the ride would remained closed until the completion of a full investigation.

“The safety of patrons at the Show is paramount and we have shut down the kids’ Free Fall ride following a reported issue with a harness,” the statement read.

“The safety systems of the ride functioned well to prevent any injury occurring and the ride will not operate again until a full investigation has been completed and the ride has been approved by speciality engineers.”

Just two weeks ago a 14-year-old boy died after falling from a similar ride at a theme park in Orlando, in the US state of Florida.

Footage reportedly showed him coming out of his seat towards the end of the ride’s 131-metre drop.

Originally published as Free Fall ride removed from Sydney Royal Easter Show after boy left unrestrained