NC woman dies days after being tossed to ground at Mooresville animal attraction
A woman has died at a hospital days after horses pulling her wagon at a popular North Carolina exotic animals attraction panicked and jumped, tossing her and others to the ground, her son said in a social media post.
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“My heart is broken, and life will never be the same without you,” Eddie Quesenberry of Winston-Salem said Thursday about his 80-year-old mother, Ruth.
Ruth Quesenberry and two others were hospitalized after Saturday’s incident at Lazy 5 Ranch east of Mooresville in Rowan County.
Quesenberry said his aunt Julia also was seriously injured. Her condition wasn’t available Friday.
On Thursday, he said, his mom “gained her angel wings. If you ever had the pleasure of meeting her, you knew she was the best! She loved everyone as if they were her own.”
Responding in a statement Friday to Ruth Quesenberry’s death, ranch officials said, “This is not a time for words. This is a time for grief. And we at Lazy 5 Ranch grieve with the Quesenberry family. We offer our sympathy.”
The horses panicked after a tree limb fell and hit the side of the wagon, ranch officials said on social media Saturday.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in this incident, and we extend our heartfelt concern to those affected and their families,” Lazy 5 officials said Saturday.
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“With the factors being animals, horses, people, equipment and nature,” ranch officials said. “We are well aware of the risk involved. We try our very best to mitigate all risk. We address the risk daily. Putting in consideration the design of our equipment, education of our drivers, selection of horses, and road maintenance.”
At least three million guests have taken rides on the horse-drawn wagons in the history of the ranch, officials said, and this was the first incident that resulted in hospitalizations requiring an overnight stay.
Henry Hampton opened the ranch in 1993, and he and his family continue to run the attraction, according to the ranch website. The ranch houses at least 750 animals from six continents, everything from antelope to giraffes.
The self-described drive-through safari zoo is located at 15100 Mooresville Road (N.C. 150) in Rowan County, 36 miles northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Eddie Quesenberry said he will miss his and his mom’s “Friday morning dates to Aunt Bea’s Cafe (I had your favorite today, gravy and biscuits), our lottery ticket stops, the small-town gossip, sharing her bingo winnings and listening to her tell me stories from my childhood. I would give anything for one more Friday with you.”
He said his heart is broken, “and life will never be the same without you. Thank you for being my mom and my best friend. I love you forever. Rest easy and fly high until we meet again.”
He started a Go Fund Me for his family’s medical expenses that has raised $6,000.
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This story was originally published October 23, 2026 at 10:17 AM.
