Doug McKay: The Man Who Suffered One Of The Worst Amusement Park Deaths In History
Paradise Amusements/FacebookBefore his death, Doug McKay co-owned Paradise Amusements with his wife Sherry.
Doug McKay had only recently been handed the reins of his family carnival business by his father when he was killed by one of his own rides.
Forty-year-old Doug and his wife Sherry McKay co-owned Paradise Amusements, a family-owned and operated outdoor carnival based in Idaho. In 2003, they were in the middle of a three-year contract with the Whidbey Island Fair — located on an island just north of Seattle, Washington. But on August 16th, Doug noticed something wrong with one of their rides.
The Super Loop 2, a small roller coaster that involved a single vertical loop, needed lubrication along a portion of its track. As the Whidbey News-Times reported, Doug made the fateful decision to climb onto the ride’s platform — while the ride was still in operation — to fix the issue.
According to the Seattle Times, Sherry explained that Doug had been around carnival rides for most of his life and was experienced in maintaining them. He even had experience working on rides that were in motion before.
But this time was different. As Doug was spraying lubricant onto the track, he suddenly slipped and fell. Doug then became entangled with a passenger cart, likely because his long hair got caught on it. Horrified park visitors watched as Doug was dragged 40 feet in the air before he was dropped.
During his final fall, he struck the ride multiple times before finally landing over a metal fence. He was immediately pronounced dead at the scene. And although law enforcement quickly tried to hide Doug’s bloody body from view, the damage had already been done to dozens of witnesses.
No one had a worse view than those on the ride — which was packed with children at the time of Doug’s death. Many of these kids were splattered with the carnival operator’s blood. And some of the children’s parents later criticized the police officers who rounded up the kids after the ride to question them before they had the chance to clean the blood off.
After the accident, the Whidbey Island Fair was dead quiet. But the silence lasted less than an hour, and soon enough the fair continued its busy Saturday night. The next day, it opened as usual — except the Super Loop 2.
Sherry later said that she had promised her husband that if anything ever happened to him, she would “keep the show going.” She kept her word.
