'I still feel guilty after surviving rollercoaster crash after three friends died'

Of the four passengers aboard the rollercoaster carriage that fateful day, Rod Chayko was the sole survivor and the weight of that guilt has never left him.

Rod was ‘the lucky one’ who cheated death on June 14, 1986. He and his friend were caught up in a terrifying rollercoaster accident when the carriage was travelling at 100 km per hour before it struck a pillar, launching all of its occupants onto the concrete floor below.

The four passengers had been riding The Mindbender, which was at the time the world’s largest indoor triple-loop roller-coaster, in the world’s largest indoor amusement park in the world’s largest shopping centre. The fateful ride was located in Galaxyland, a theme park within West Edmonton Mall, in Alberta, Canada.

The wheel assembly had come loose from both the track and the carriage itself, causing the ride to veer and sway violently along the track, inflicting further damage. Then the unthinkable occurred when the lap bar restraints disengaged, releasing the riders and sending them plummeting to the ground below.

Three of the four passengers who were thrown from the ride lost their lives that day, while the fourth, Rod, was left with life-changing injuries. Now 65 and a retired welder, his body remained for years a ‘source of daily pain’, which he was still managing even 20 years on with the aid of medical marijuana.

Riding alongside him that fateful day was his close friend David Sager, while seated directly behind them was an engaged couple, Tony Mandrusiak, 24, and his fiancée Cindy Sims, 21.

He recalled the harrowing moment it happened on the 20-year anniversary of the accident, saying: “I remember feeling it sway and grabbing onto the handle,” recalls Chayko. “The next thing, I was landing on the ground.”

At the time of the incident, Rod was living in Fort McMurray, and had chosen to visit the mall for an evening of entertainment with David. He described his late friend as something of a ‘thrill-seeker’ who had a passion for fast cars, yet nothing could have prepared either of them for the terrifying ordeal that lay ahead.

He told CBC News the crash was “an accident – plain and simple”. He said: “David, Tony and Cindy are dead, and it changed my life forever. I think about it every day.”

In the years following the tragedy, he returned to the mall on numerous occasions with both his children and grandchildren, though the ride continued to cast a dark shadow over every visit.

It was not until 2023 that the Mindbender was finally shut down permanently, after decades of carrying passengers along what had once proved a deadly track. While Chayko vowed never to ride the Mindbender again, he made clear he had no desire to discourage others from doing so.

In the wake of the devastating incident, Chayko revealed he received an undisclosed settlement from the mall, though he insists he is not “rich”. At the time of the 2016 interview, he confirmed that the centre continues to provide him with complimentary tickets to attractions they host whenever he requests them.

He has since made a point of urging the mall to install a memorial bench near the site where the ride once stood, as a tribute to those who lost their lives. Staff are understood to have offered to mount a plaque on an office wall instead, a proposal he did not consider satisfactory.