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Girl whose scalp was ripped off by ride leaves hospital

Elizabeth "Lulu" Gilreath (Facebook Photo)
Elizabeth “Lulu” Gilreath (Facebook Photo)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An 11-year-old girl whose scalp was partially torn off when her hair got caught in the gears of a carnival ride has been released from an Omaha hospital.

Nebraska Medicine spokesman Taylor Wilson said Thursday that Elizabeth “Lulu” Gilreath left Nebraska Medical Center on Tuesday. She’d been a patient at the hospital since May 7, when she fell to the floor of a spinning ride at a Cinco de Mayo festival in Omaha. Her ponytail got caught in the ride’s moving parts.

Lulu’s mother, Virginia Cooksey, says her daughter’s had several surgeries and likely will have more. Doctors say the girl did not suffer brain trauma or fractures.

Nebraska investigators found no indication that the spinning ride was malfunctioning when the incident occurred.

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