The Six Flags parkgoer who died after falling from the Goliath rollercoaster in Georgia had previously battled and overcome cancer, and had survived a car fire approximately one month prior to the incident, his sister told The Post.
Hassan Kariem, 42, a teacher from the Atlanta area, died Monday after falling from the 200-foot-tall ride at Six Flags Over Georgia. His sister, Andrea Clark, 35, remembered him as "my hero."
"He's an amazing person," Clark said. "The coolest part about me was him."
Kariem's death was described as "unfair" by his sister, who shared that he had successfully battled cancer that went into remission in 2015. "He had other issues, but he's healthy, he was able-bodied. I don't understand it," she stated.
Clark also revealed that her brother had survived a "crazy" car fire just a month before the amusement park tragedy. "He could do it all," his sister said, weeping.
Kariem "worked hard and took care of his family," his sister added. While he did not have a son of his own, he was actively involved in the life of his fiancée's daughter, whom he had helped raise since she was three years old.
Clark also appealed for an end to the online sharing of graphic images and videos of her brother's final moments. "That's just evil," she said. "It's tragic and I feel like we've gone too far as a society."
According to witnesses, Kariem slipped out of his lap restraint during the ride on the Goliath hypercoaster. Six Flags, the largest amusement park company in the United States, has since closed several similar rollercoasters across the country as a precautionary measure.