BATAVIA, N.Y., July 9 (UPI) -- A veteran who lost both his legs in a roadside bombing in Iraq was killed in a fall from a rollercoaster in upstate New York, his family said.
James Hackemer, 29, was at Darien Lake Theme Park Resort with his two young daughters, his sisters and their children, his mother, Nancy Hackemer, told The Buffalo News late Friday.
"It's going to help a little bit that he was happy," she said. "We shouldn't have had him for these last three years and four months."
Hackemer completed rehab at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington in March, about three years after he was wounded. His mother said he died twice clinically, once immediately after the explosion and again during surgery.
The resort confirmed a man was killed on the Ride of Steel about 5:30 p.m. Friday. Officials said the accident was under investigation by the Genesee County Sheriff's Department.
Sources told the newspaper the rider was "thrown from the coaster," which is 208 feet high at its tallest point.
