Parents hopeful for daughter's recovery

MIAMI (WSVN) -- A mother and father are speaking about their hopes for their daughter after she finally arrived nearer to the family home after almost losing her life at a Wisconsin amusement park.

Teagan Marti, the 12-year-old girl who fell 100 feet to the ground on the Terminal Velocity ride at the Extreme World amusement park, was transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital, Wednesday afternoon. The Parkland girl suffered multiple injuries and had been at a hospital in Madison for over a month before arriving in Miami.

Speaking at a press conference Thursday, Julie Marti, the victim's mother said, "This child has been strong-willed since the day she was born. I know she's a fighter, and we're going to do everything we can."

Marti has been partially paralyzed since she slammed into the ground after the operator of the Terminal Velocity ride released her before a safety net was in place and an air-filled mattress on the ground was inflated.

Doctors said she suffered injuries to her brain, spine, liver and other organs and may be paralyzed. "She knows that she was hurt very badly," said her mother. "I don't feel that she needs to know that this man dropped her 10 stories to the ground. She clearly knows that she's had surgeries and that she's trapped in this bed. She has a feeding tube, she still cannot speak. She is on a ventilator."

Though his daughter remains in critical condition, her father, Dr. Alex Marti is hopeful. "The fact that she doesn't have any brain injuries, how can you fall a hundred feet and not die, and on top of it not have any brain injuries?" he said.

It is because of that and the fact that her spinal cord is still intact, that her parents are holding on to hope. "As long as the cord is attached, you don't know what can happen. Only God knows," said the father.

The ride operator told police he's not sure why he prematurely released the girl. He faces a felony charge that carries a 25-year sentence and a lawsuit is pending.

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