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What started as a typical day at the Columbia County Fall Fair in Grovetown, Georgia, nearly ended in tragedy. Mom Kristen Murphy watched as her teenage sons rode a flying swing ride. While watching, she decided to take a video to capture the special moment for her boys. As she filmed, the ride malfunctioned, and empty swings began hitting riders.
The incident left three people injured and two 13-year-old boys facing charges. Murphy’s video went viral, raising concerns about ride safety and protocols for keeping people safe.
Murphy spent the day at the fair with her kids.
In the caption of her viral video, she said she went to the fair on November 7, 2026, with her children. Murphy spent much of the day with her younger twins and spotted her older sons on the swings.
As she recorded, she noticed that two boys were holding onto each other’s swings, which caused an issue with the ride. Murphy caught footage of the out-of-control swings while screaming at operators to stop the ride.
WRDW reported that multiple parents rushed to the control panel to slow the ride down.
“Once we did get it stopped and I was able to get to my kids, that’s when we noticed that there were some pretty severe injuries,” Murphy said.
The video terrified viewers.
Seeing the ride lose control and watching the swings banging into riders scared plenty of people.
“This is my worst fear of something happening to my baby. I took her to the state fair in Raleigh, and I stayed a nervous wreck every time she rode a ride. I was thinking the worst. They swear those rides are safe but you really never know. Prayers for two who were hurt and the others who had to experience this scary thing that happened. I would have been a wreck,” a parent wrote.
This person agreed and could hear the fear in Murphy’s voice.
“Oh, my heart just absolutely shattered listening to your screams. I could hear how powerless you felt in that moment,” they wrote. “Thank God the boys are okay! I can’t begin to imagine how terrified you all must have been.”
The teens evidently caused chaos intentionally.
According to WRDW, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office deputies approached two 13-year-olds who had been warned not to hold onto the other’s swing. The boys were allowed to leave with their parents and took paperwork describing the charges. Per the sheriff’s department, emergency crews rushed an adult away in an ambulance and treated two children at the scene. Murphy believes the situation deserves a thorough investigation.
The mom shared her thoughts on social media.
In a follow-up Facebook post, Murphy shared she did not approve of the teenagers’ behavior, but she doesn’t hold them solely responsible for what happened.
“If two lightweight riders can compromise the safety of dozens of innocent children on board, that ride is fundamentally unsafe,” she wrote. “We asked to make statements as this happened. No one from the merchants association even approached us or took our names. The overall response to the situation was rather slow. I felt horrible for the ones that were injured bc they were pretty hurt.”
The incident remains under investigation.
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