Ten days after the incident that killed his younger brother, David Jaramillo Jr. still remains on life support, though his family is optimistic about his recovery and says that every day he shows a little improvement.
The fatal accident occurred July 3 at Adventureland Park in Altoona, Iowa. David, along with several members of his family, visited the park the first day it reopened since 2020.
The incident took place on the Raging River ride, which according to a Facebook post had passed inspection the day before.
The raft in which five members of the Jaramillo family and their 18-year-old cousin were onboard overturned. All six became trapped under the raft and were rescued by witnesses and first responders.
David’s 11-year-old brother, Michael, died from his injuries. David was transported to the hospital and placed in a medically induced coma.
The remaining family members escaped with minor injuries.
David, who turned 16 while in the hospital, has since been taken out of a medically induced coma, but he is not out of the woods yet.
“He’s still on certain levels of life support, but every day they are weaning him off of that as his body begins to take back over its own functions,” Pastor Christian Shields of Christian Life Church, the church the Jaramillo family attends told the Des Moines Register.
“So, his lungs are doing good. They’re not great, but they’re doing good. His heart’s doing good right now.”
The teen has been able to communicate with his family through gestures, according to a GoFundMe, which has raised over $48,000.
But there’s still a lot of healing that must take place, but physically and mentally.
This is the second fatal accident involving the Raging River ride at Adventureland. In 2016, a 68-year-old park employee was killed after he fell on to the ride’s conveyor belt.
“How many people have to be injured or die before something happens?” Shields said.
Please join me in praying for the Jaramillo family.
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