| OCR Text |
Show Father of first victim ; hopes to help Kings By JANIS STUART : ' BOUNTIFUL--The father of the ' 6-year-old Bountiful boy who died while riding "Puff the Little Fire Dragon" at Lagoon on April 30, said he fainted when he heard the news of 13-year-old Kilee King, ther Bountiful girl who died while riding ! the roller coaster last Friday. Mr. Beckstead said that his first reaction was that he needed to talk to the parents of Kilee. He said, "I : knew that lots of people could sympathize sym-pathize with them, but my wife and I could empathize with them;" v , : 'l have gone around the ! neighborhood to collea money for the family," stated Mr. Beckstead. "Friends had done that for us and I know how much it was appreci-ated.,v,;v-"v-. - According to Mr. Beckstead, Lagoon should be forced to install shoulder harness straps to. prevent this type of accident from ever happening hap-pening again. "If it takes a lawsuit to make them come around, I will f o T. pursue one," explained Beckstead. ; " "It is important to me that people i,, "know the truth about what happen- - ed to my son. I feel that the accident ,J could have been avoided if atten- dants had been given proper train-A ing at the park, and if proper re- x straints had been used. If my 11- 1'V year-old daughter had not grabbed Z my 2-year-old son when the ride " stopped, I would probably have lost " I both of my sons," die father said. ; ! i--- Mr. Beckstead has contacted Salt ' ' Lake Mayor Palmer DePaulis, who he expects to contact Governor j t Bangerter, in an attempt to in- troduce legislatiorr forcing Lagoon 4 to adopt stronger ; safety re-... j quirements concerning . safety j ;- harnesses.'- .. '::. 'i Mr. Beckstead said, "After loos- v ; ing my son, I feel like I have a large hole in me. I hope by doing things :r like supporting the King family and getting legislation passed, my heart r can grow to fill the hole." |
