PANAMA CITY — One of the teenagers hurt when she crashed into a condo before falling to the ground in a parasailing accident earlier this month is finding the hospital boring.
That’s a positive sign for the families of Alexis Fairchild and Sidney Good, the two 17-year-old Indiana girls who were seriously injured July 1 when the line connecting them to a boat broke during a parasailing outing. Both girls are recovering from their injuries at Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health Center, and Fairchild is expected to be released in the coming days, according to a statement released by the families Wednesday.
Fairchild has been doing rehab sessions twice a day and is able to walk around despite severe back pain. She has visited the hospital gift shop and gone several times to Good’s room. She will continue her rehabilitation at an Indianapolis hospital after she is released.
Tuesday saw several positive development’s in Good’s recovery, the statement said. She recognized Fairchild during a visit Tuesday, and she began to eat soft food, which she was able to feed herself. She told her parents she was bored and wants to get up and walk around, which could happen as soon as Thursday.
Lawmakers have seized on the incident, saying it illustrates the need for government regulation of the parasailing industry.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the teen victims and their family members,” Florida Rep. Gwen Clarke-Reed said in a statement issued earlier this week. “As I did in the 2013 legislative session, I intend to again sponsor legislation next session to provide adequate oversight and certain safety criteria for commercial parasailing operations in Florida.”
Clarke-Reed joins Florida Sen. Maria Sachs, who also introduced a bill regulating parasailing during the last session, in pledging to refile a bill in the Senate.
Aquatic Adventures, the business involved in the July 1 incident that left Good and Fairchild in critical condition, has issued a statement calling the incident tragic and explaining that while the company adheres to industry best practices “sudden weather conditions can and do occur.”
The incident, which occurred as a storm passed through the area, is under investigation.