Pigeon Crashes into Side of 12 Year-old Boy's face Sitting in 6 Flag's Kingda Ka Ride

**kellyhound** · #1 ● 07-29-2012, 09:39 AM

HOWELL, Shane Matus was having a blast his second time aboard Kingda Ka Thursday at Six Flag’s Great Adventure in Jackson, when the unexpected happened.

As the train was zooming over a curve, returning to the station, a bird crashed into the side of his face.

At first, Shane, 12, of Howell, who was seated in the front row of the roller coaster was confused, thinking someone threw a ball.

Then he felt his neck puffing up, getting swollen, and he started spitting out feathers and blood, more of which were on the people seated in the rows behind Shane and his friend.
“I just ... hit a bird ? What ?” Shane said were his initial thoughts.

“The only thing I felt was pain. I had blood dripping down from my nose, my lips, and all of this,” he said, pointing to his badly bruised, scratched and swollen neck.

The bird was later determined to be a pigeon.
Shane was taken to CentraState Medical Center in Freehold Township.

He said there were no broken bones, “just like I got punched in the face a couple of times.”

Kingda Ka is 45 stories high. Its trains reach speeds up to 128 miles per hour.

If he had not turned his head toward the sound of a car alarm in the parking lot, the pigeon would have hit him right between the eyes, his family explained.

“It almost got his collarbone,” said his father Adam.
Shane’s mother, Colleen, was at work when she got the call.

“Of course, my heart’s pounding and my throat’s closing up, and I’m just thinking ‘Oh my God,’ ” said Colleen Matus.

“And then they told me, ‘Shane got hit by a bird on a roller coaster’ and I’m just like ... ‘What ?’ I couldn’t wrap my head around it.”

Shane is advised to stay away from physical activity for five to seven days, and will miss his baseball game Sunday.

Shane, who has ridden Kingda Ka seven times in his lifetime, was at the Jackson amusement park with his aunt and friend, a weekly trip.

Regardless of the incident, Shane said he will wait about a week before going back to Six Flags.

He’ll even climb aboard Kingda Ka again, but not in the front row.
“Probably in the third ... because that’s my lucky number,” Shane said.

Shane was released from the hospital around 7 p.m. Representatives from Six Flag’s Great Adventure called Thursday afternoon to check on Shane, his father said. “I told them about my deductible, and they said to send them the bill,” which was $250.

“If they want to do something for him, that’s great. He’s the one that’s banged up.”

The pigeon is currently being tested for rabies. Doctors explained that since Shane did not have any open, gaping wounds, he probably will not contract rabies. “We’re a little wary about that,” his mother added.

“My face is made of iron,” Shane said smiling. “I feel like ‘Invinci-Boy.’

pyromancer555 · #2 ● 07-29-2012, 09:44 AM

ummmmm 3rd isnt a number just saying. I think maybe that bird hit him harder than any one knows.

Brometheus · #3 ● 07-29-2012, 11:05 AM

Third translates into 3.. its still a number.. just sayin. (i also hate that stupid sayin. its as stupid as "IMO" we know its your damn opinion, its you who typed it. just like its you who "said it". just sayin. /rant)
they should file charges against the bird if its still alive. silly pigeon.