Howard was leaving Six Flags Great Escape Amusement Park, 55 miles north of Albany, with his family when he heard someone screaming for help. He looked up to see a young girl dangling about 25ft off the ground from a slow-moving gondola ride. The girl’s little brother sat next to her in the green two-person pod, crying hysterically and saying he couldn’t hold on.
Howard and Winchell positioned themselves under the girl as the ride stopped and security came running. A crowd gathered, many filming, others calling for help.
“I said: ‘It’s ‘OK! It’s OK to let go, I’ll catch you, honey,”’ said Howard.
The girl lost her grip and fell to where Howard and Winchell, arms outstretched, waited with a few other people. The two took the brunt of the girl’s fall, tumbling to the ground themselves. They and others carried the girl to where emergency workers later arrived to help her.
