Thrill seeker claims he suffered a horrific back injury while riding the famous wooden roller coaster, leaving him paralyzed

According to a new lawsuit, a man suffered his “first roller coaster ride” at a popular South Carolina amusement park and was left paralyzed.

Kul Sannyashi was riding the Swamp Fox roller coaster at Family Kingdom Amusement Park in Myrtle Beach in July 2021 when the alleged incident occurred.

His wife, Gangia Adhikari, filed a lawsuit against the “largest amusement park by the sea” on Thursday, accusing it of negligence and extremely dangerous activities and demanding unspecified financial damages.

Sannyashi, who has also filed suit against the park, rode the 2,640-foot-long roller coaster, which can reach a top speed of 75 miles per hour, and suffered “an acute injury to his spinal cord” that left him a quadriplegic, the lawsuit says.

The Swamp Fox, originally known as the Red Devil, opened in May 1966 and is one of the few remaining wooden roller coasters in the United States.

The complaint names Family Kingdom, the park’s parent company, Ocean Avenue Attractions LLC, and Leigh V. Meese and Donnie Snipes, park employees, as defendants.

On the day of the alleged incident, Sannyashi purchased a ticket for the roller coaster. Due to the defendants’ “negligence, carelessness, recklessness, obstinacy and wantonness,” he was allegedly seriously injured during the ride, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit says the park failed to inspect the roller coaster to “ensure it was operating properly” and did not adequately warn customers of the danger “compared to other attractions.”

The lawsuit further states that Family Kingdom Amusement Park created “unsafe” conditions, failed to take precautions, and failed to “properly test, remove or restrict” access to the roller coaster, which in turn created a “dangerous roller coaster” for customers.

Morgan Martin, whose law firm represents the couple, told The Sun News that many people over the years have said the ride has been “tremendous and bumpy.”

“The accusation is that he gets through it OK and then comes away with quadriplegia. It’s such a sad, sad day for this young man who is just in a terrible state,” Martin said.

Since then, a GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money to fund his ongoing treatments and around-the-clock care.

The fundraising page explained that Sannyashi suffered an injury to his C1 and C2 vertebrae during “his first roller coaster ride.”

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“He is currently a quadriplegic on a ventilator who requires round-the-clock care. Our lives have changed completely, but we are deeply grateful to still have Kul with us,” said the page created when the alleged incident occurred.

In a Facebook post on July 26, 2021, Adhikari shared a photo of herself and her husband at an amusement park, although it is unclear if it was taken at Family Kingdom.

“No words can express how much I miss you. My happiness is that I am where you are. I love you so much and miss you always,” she said.

As of Saturday evening, more than $14,500 had been raised. DailyMail.com has contacted Family Kingdom Amusement Park for comment.

This is not the first time the Myrtle Beach amusement park has run into legal trouble over the Swamp Fox roller coaster, after a Horror County woman sued the Family Kingdom amusement park in 2019.

The unidentified woman who rode the roller coaster on June 9, 2018, said she was not warned about how dangerous and rough the roller coaster was, WBTW reported.

The lawsuit stated that the woman had suffered from back problems in the past, but that other roller coasters had not been a problem for her in the past.

“However, the ride on the Swamp Fox roller coaster was much bumpier than a normal roller coaster. In fact, it would bounce off the tracks and slam back into the tracks, aggravating the back injuries the plaintiff was already suffering,” the lawsuit states.

The amusement park on Ocean Boulevard offers over 35 rides for children and adults.

According to Family Kingdom’s website, the Swamp Fox offers riders “a fast-paced adrenaline rush with views of the Atlantic Ocean.”

As The Sun News reported, the attraction had to be restored in 1989 after it was damaged by Hurricane Hugo.