COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nearly seven years after Keziah Lewis was severely injured when the Fire Ball ride at the Ohio State Fair broke apart mid-ride, a New Jersey court awarded four survivors a total of $78 million from the ride’s manufacturer, KMG Rides.
Lewis will receive $20 million of that judgment.
“It was wild before the accident, I'd never broken a bone like ever,” she said for the first time since the judgment came down.
When the arm of the Fire Ball ride broke, it flung her and her boyfriend, Tyler Jarrell, 50 feet into the air.
Jarrell died. Lewis broke her pelvis, ankle, ribs and more.
“I’ll still have to be dealing with this like years in advance. Like no amount of money could possibly make my body whole again, or give me back the years that I lost, trying to get back to where I am, or even bring back Tyler,” Lewis added.
KMG has not responded to 10TV’s request for comment. But Lewis says she doubts she’ll collect the judgment since the company is based in the Netherlands.
“At this point, with how long and drawn out it is, I would almost just accept, like, a heartfelt apology,” Lewis said with a lighthearted chuckle.
What she would prefer is to see KMG change how it manufacturers rides overall. Since 2017, Lewis refuses to go on any more thrill rides, with the exception of a Ferris wheel once.
“I actually went and visited their [KMG] website last night in the midst of all this, and the rides, they scare me because they look really similar, and it makes me wonder just how many more could potentially have similar issues with them, or things that are just being overlooked,” said Lewis.
After the incident, doctors told Lewis she would never walk again. She was determined to prove them wrong.
“I took that as a challenge and I feel like I’m doing a lot better now,” she said with a smile.
Lewis considers herself similar to a phoenix rising from the ashes.
She graduated in 2023 from the University of Cincinnati and plans to write a book.
“I feel like now I'm starting to create like a version of myself that doesn't center around the accident," she said. “I'm going to music festivals and I went on a cruise and went out of the country, and I feel like I'm just knocking off things off my bucket list and healing my inner child slowly."
