Terrifying scenes from Hersheypark captured the moment when a missing child wandered onto a monorail that was suspended 100ft above the packed crowds.
The clip, which has since garnered 17 million views on Twitter alone, showed an unidentified child walking out onto the monorail at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The boy had gone missing from his parents at around five pm on Saturday, August 30, and thankfully, the monorail was closed that day.
“The ride was closed and safeguarded by a chained closure at the entrance and barricaded turnstile at the platform,” a representative for Hersheypark told NBC News. “The child remained at the closed station for about 20 minutes before briefly walking along the track.”
The man who rescued the kid has since come forward
A bystander saved a boy who was walking along a monorail track at Hershey Park. He was later reunited with his parents unharmed pic.twitter.com/RHBiusjdyK
— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) August 31, 2025
As Hersheypark employees scrambled to find and rescue the boy, a crowd formed underneath the him in case he fell from the 100-foot rail. Though people did try to help, the chaos of the situation forced the kid to cover his ears in a panic – but that’s when Superman dad John Sampson stepped in.
John climbed a nearby food truck, jumping from building to building before landing firmly on Hersheypark’s monorail, where the boy was.
“Dad instincts kicked in, and then [I was] just trying to figure things out and how to get up there as fast as possible,” John told Fox News.
“[I felt] relief, absolute relief, and even I could feel it in him — the relief as soon as he got into my arms. Thank goodness he came straight into my arms, and it went nice and simply in that sense.”
The boy was returned to his parents around 20 minutes after being reported missing, with John also revealing how they’d thanked him for saving their son.
“They reached out to me this morning, so we were able to talk, and, obviously, [there was] a lot of thanks and everything, which was wonderful,” he said. “And I’m so happy to hear that he’s obviously back with his family, which is the biggest thing out of all of this.”
Following the incident, Hersheypark added: “We are grateful for the vigilance of our guests and the swift response of our team, and we remain committed to maintaining the highest levels of guest safety throughout Hersheypark.”
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Featured image credit: Fox 43
