TAMPA, Fla. – A University of South Florida football player is recovering at a hospital after falling 35 feet from a ride while working at Busch Gardens in Tampa.
Authorities say 20-year-old Maikon Bonani was working Saturday at the Skyride attraction.
The park issued a statement saying that after sending a gondola out of the station, the employee thought the door might be unlocked and held onto the door to check it. He held on for about 50 feet as the gondola took off — 35 feet above the ground — then let go and dropped into a landscaped area.
Bonani was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital where he was listed in fair condition. Busch Gardens said no one else was injured.
Bonani was USF's starting kicker.
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