USF kicker suffers fall at Busch Gardens

Maikon Bonani, starting kicker for the University of South Florida's football team, was injured yesterday after falling 35 feet from a gondola ride while working at Busch Gardens in Tampa. The 20-year-old Bonani was working at the Skyride attraction and had just sent a group of passengers in a gondola out of the station when he thought the door to their ride vehicle might be unlocked. The Orlando Sentinel reports that he grabbed onto the door to make sure it was secure, but held on as the gondola took off, lifting him up into the air, at which point Bonani let go and dropped into a landscaped area. "He was trying to make sure they were safe," said park spokeswoman Jill Revelle.

Busch Gardens management is currently reviewing safety procedures, but has released no other information on the incident. USF coach Jim Leavitt has both phoned and visited Bonani, and said, "[h]e's in pain, but doing fine and resting."