Photo: Alberto Menendez Cervero / Moment / Getty Images
A carnival worker is being hailed as a hero after he clung to a ride to protect a 12-year-old girl inside. The girl's mother, Caress Muraira, told KBMT that they had just arrived at the Pecan Festival in Groves, Texas and that her daughter, Juliana Bernal, wanted to go on The Bullet Ride first.
The worker was securing Juliana inside the car of the ride when a gust of wind caused the arm to rise 30 feet into the air while the door was still open.
"It started going slow at first, and he was trying to stop it. Her door wasn't closed. So I started freaking out. As he went to close the door, he just kind of flew up with it. My daughter was up there and talking to him. Saying, 'please hang on. Don't fall,'" said Muraira.
Other employees rushed over to help and unloaded the passengers in the lower car before bringing the arm back down to the ground.
The ride operator was shaken up after the ordeal, and the ride was shut down for the remainder of the day.
Luckily, nobody was injured as a result of the terrifying mishap.
"Felt like the longest time of my life, you know? I have seen this stuff happen on social media before. You never think it's going to happen to you, and then it happened. I am just so happy my daughter was saved, and am so grateful to that man," Muraira said.