2023 Charlotteans of the Year: Jeremy Wagner
The Carowinds patron saw the crack and took the video that brought Fury 325 to a screeching halt
On June 30, Jeremy Wagner took four kids to Carowinds. Like most visitors of the amusement park, they came to ride North America’s “tallest and fastest giga roller coaster,” Fury 325. The 1 1/4-mile ride reaches 95 mph and climbs to a peak of 325 feet before it plunges riders into an 81-degree drop and a 190-foot-tall barrel turn.
The kids—his 14-year-old daughter, 12-year-old niece, and his son and a friend, both 13—got on board. As they rode, Wagner, an ex-paramedic, noticed light shooting through a crack in a steel support pillar as the coaster train reached a turn and placed pressure on the track. “Being in emergency services, my brain went to the worst-case scenario,” he says. “If that thing failed, it would have gone into the parking lot and mowed people down.”
Wagner, 46, took a video on his phone, then flagged down a Carowinds employee and pointed out the crack. The employee claimed not to see it. So Wagner showed a greeter at the entrance. Then someone at security. He sensed an alarming lack of urgency, so he spoke with someone in guest services who requested the video and assured him they would share it with management.
Jeremy Wagner’s sharp eye and ready smartphone documented the crack in Fury 325’s steel support pillar on June 30.
The roller coaster was still running when Wagner left the park. During the drive home to Hickory, he had his daughter post the video to his Facebook page. He called Carowinds but got the park’s automated phone system. The upcoming Fourth of July weekend would coincide with the park’s 50th anniversary, and Wagner knew even more people than usual would ride Fury 325.
If an accident happened and he hadn’t done more to sound the alert, he’d blame himself. Once he got home, Wagner called the Charlotte Fire Department. He spoke with a firefighter who had a direct line to the park’s security team. Ten minutes later, Wagner says, the firefighter called back to tell him Carowinds had shut the ride down.
Wagner’s video went viral, and his story made local and national headlines. On July 6, Carowinds posted a statement to its website that said, in part, “Following the installation of the new column, and as part of our normal protocol for rides such as Fury 325, we will conduct an extensive series of tests to ensure the safety and integrity of the coaster.”
Fury 325 reopened in early August. Wagner says Carowinds has yet to reach out. “I didn’t get a thank-you,” he says, “not even a we’ll-refill-your-drink-next-time.” (A Carowinds spokesperson responded to our request for comment in September with a link to the full statement it had posted in July.)
But Wagner’s social media pages are flooded with comments like, “Saving lives, one crack at a time!” “So glad you found this before a serious tragedy happened!!” “Jeremy Wagner gets my vote for Time magazine’s 2023 Man of the Year!”
“My kids call me Eagle-Eye Dad now,” he says, “but it’s just paying attention to your surroundings.”
TAYLOR BOWLER is the lifestyle editor.
