A 19-year-old woman has died of an illness more than a year after she suffered a traumatic brain injury in a deadly ride accident at last year’s Ohio State Fair.
An attorney for Jennifer Lambert announced that his client passed away on Friday at Western Reserve Hospital in northeast Ohio. She had been in long-term care since the accident that killed 18-year-old Tyler Jarrell.
Attorney James Arnold said Lambert died from liver failure and that her death may not have been directly related to the injuries she sustained when the Fire Ball ride broke apart.
‘The only connection at least that I can tell to date is…that’s the reason she was in the facility that she was in and I think in a more vulnerable, susceptible state,’ said the lawyer.
An autopsy will be performed to shed light on the woman’s medical condition, reported Columbus Dispatch.
Lambert earlier this year received a $1.8 million settlement from the ride’s owner and two private inspection companies. Her lawyer said that money has been put in a trust.
Lambert was 18 when a gondola on the Fire Ball slammed onto the midway on July 26, 2017, injuring seven people ranging in age from 14 to 42.
Video showed carriages holding multiple riders shearing apart during operation, ejecting riders in mid-swing and plunging them to the ground.
Tyler Jarrell died of blunt force trauma injuries after being tossed 50 feet into the air when the ride broke apart.
A week before the tragic accident, the 18-year-old high school graduated had enlisted in the US Marine Corps.
Tyler Jarrell’s mother, Amber Duffield, released a statement to 10TV addressing Lambert’s death.
‘This is a most unfortunate change in what was already an unfortunate circumstance to have your child’s life be,’ it read. ‘My heart hurts for this family.’
The ride’s manufacturer, KMG, blamed the accident on a rusted steel arm that held the carriage.
SOURCE: The Associated Press; Daily Mail, Snejana Farberov
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