14-year-old boy with autism falls from 65-foot Ferris wheel

Elise Solé
A 14-year-old boy with autism fell from a 65-foot Ferris wheel inside Scheels, a sporting goods store, in Sandy, Utah. (Photo: Scheels.com)
A 14-year-old boy with autism fell from a 65-foot Ferris wheel inside Scheels, a sporting goods store, in Sandy, Utah. (Photo: Scheels.com)

A 14-year-old boy with autism fell off a 65-foot Ferris wheel and is in critical condition at the hospital.

On Tuesday afternoon, the teenager and his father had been riding the Ferris wheel inside Scheels, a sporting goods chain in Sandy, Utah, when the boy fell from the ride. Although police aren’t sure how it happened, they’re reportedly not treating the accident as suspicious.

“At this point, it sounds like a tragic incident, and our hearts go out to the family and everybody that was involved in this,” Sgt. Jason Nielsen of the Sandy Police Department told Desert News. He told KUTV that the fall was from “pretty high” and that the boy was conscious and able to breathe when taken to the hospital.

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When you have a husband and sons who hunt and fish 24/7 …you go Christmas shopping for them at Scheels:) This place is huge and it's always fun to ride the indoor Ferris wheel! #scheels #scheelsferriswheel PS. I live in beautiful Utah…Scheels is in Sandy, Utah:)

A post shared by beelori1 (@beelori1) on Dec 17, 2015 at 11:24am PST

Spokespeople from Scheels and the Sandy Police Department did not return Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment.

The 16-car ride stands in the center of Scheels, along with a cafe and a 16,000-gallon saltwater aquarium, according to the company website.

No other information about the accident is currently available.

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