Girl Injured at Go Bananas Three Years Ago

Mother: It could have been her

A woman tells NBC Chicago that her daughter was injured three years on the same roller coaster that a 3-year-old boy was killed on over the weekend.

Jayson Dansby died Saturday after he was hit by another car on the Python Pit ride at Go Bananas in Norridge. Jayson fell after crawling underneath the safety bar. His death has been ruled accidental, but police are still investigating.

Crystal Malone says her daughter, Destiny Lofton, was 8 years old when she broke her wrist on the same ride while shaking hands with a friend in another car. So when she heard about the incident over the weekend, she wondered if an safety improvements have been made to the ride.

"I was sad. I felt real sad for the family and hurt," Malone said. "That was the same ride my baby was on and it could have been her."

Malone says nobody specifically told her daughter to keep her hands inside the car she was riding in.

"Certainly it's the same main ride at the same location, so with two incidents where children were hurt, obviously it's a real area of concern," Malone's lawyer Mike Malatesta said.

Malone is in the process of settling a lawsuit against Go Bananas.

A spokesman said he can't talk about the incident from three years ago, but that the facility has passes all inspections and expects to open Monday night or Tuesday.

A spokesman from the Illinois Department of Labor told NBC Chicago that another incident involving the same roller coaster occurred in 2008 when an "up-stop" wheel came off the car, causing the coaster to stop suddenly. One rider was hospitalized with a bump to the head.

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