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Tina Werner From Delaware Dies While Waiting To Zip Line, Complete Bucket List

By Inquisitr Staff
Published on: 03:44 PST, Aug 26, 2016

Tina Werner, a 59-year-old woman from Felton, Delaware, died on Wednesday while waiting on a platform to zip line. The zip line slide at the Go Ape Zip Line and Tree Top Adventure park in Delaware, near Newark, was supposed to complete Werner’s bucket list, but it instead caused her death. People Magazine reports that Tina Werner fell at least 35 feet as she waited to go through the zip line course just after 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Park rangers, as well as employees at the Lums Pond State Park in Bear, Delaware, where Go Ape is located, reportedly performed first aid on Tina Werner as they waited for paramedics to arrive, but she was later pronounced dead at Christiana Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. Authorities are unclear what led to Werner’s fatal fall, but Bear residents and Go Ape officials say the zip line ride is “very safe.”

One resident, John Lunsford, acknowledged that the equipment is safe, but he does understand how someone could fall from the zip line that spans over seven acres, either from not hooking themselves up correctly or from losing their balance, which is exactly what happened to Tina Werner, who allegedly lost her footing and fell from the zip line platform. The platform at the beginning of the complicated zip line course offers standing room only for one person, with no room for error.

In fact, one wrong move sent Tina Werner over the edge, plunging to her death on Wednesday. Those who were with Werner on the course at the time could only watch in horror as she plummeted nearly 40 feet to the ground, according to the Mirror on Thursday. Werner’s daughter, Melissa Slater, said on Facebook that her mother’s death is the hardest situation she’s ever had to face. However, Slater did confirm that her mom successfully completed her bucket list.

According to Slater, Tina Werner managed to get in one zip line ride, completing her bucket list, before falling to her death.

“So, she did it,” said Slater.

“Today, about 3 hours ago, I was told that my mother has died. Full of love and adventure, I am thankful to be her daughter. My mom died completing her bucket list, zip lining in Newark.”

No foul play is suspected, according to a report by NBC10 Philadelphia. A statement issued by Go Ape Ltd., the company that owns and runs Tree Top Adventures, said that Tina Werner actually “disconnected herself from safety measures.” State troopers say that Werner fell from the fourth platform as she waited to descend the zip line course that is equipped with multiple zip wires, rope swings, and other suspended obstacles.

A news release issued by Delaware State Police late on Thursday listed Tina Werner’s cause of death as “multiple blunt force trauma by way of an accident.” The Go Ape company has no idea why Werner would disconnect herself from the safety system, saying that they have safely served more than six million customers since the first tree-top adventure zip line course was opened in the lowland pine Thetford Forest in England in 2002.

Go Ape is cooperating as investigators search for more information regarding the cause of Tina Werner’s death and said that Werner underwent extensive “proper” safety training before riding the over 3,000-foot-long zip line course — training that allegedly included the importance of staying attached to the safety system at all times. Several witnesses claim that Tina Werner “unfortunately” disconnected herself from the safety system before proceeding to the final platform in Site 4, as reported by Fox News.

“Participants at Go Ape courses are equipped with climbing harnesses and two sets of ropes with carabiners that they unclip and clip to safety wires in sequence as they move through the trees.”

The Go Ape Zip Line and Tree Top Adventure course was closed at the Lums Pond location on Thursday out of respect for Tina Werner and her family, but Go Ape says a full inspection of Site 4, with particular focus on the platform that Tina Werner fell off of, confirms that the site, the course, and all equipment “was and remains in sound operational conditions,” with nothing broken or unserviceable.

Melissa Slater describes Tina Werner as fun and adventurous with a bucket list that ended with zip lining, following a trip to Venice, Italy, and a hot air balloon ride. Go Ape officials said that their thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Tina Werner and “in particular to those who were on the course with her at the time.”

[Image via Shutterstock]

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