Man Stuck Upside Down On Bungee Ride At Ventura County Speaks Out

VENTURA (CBSLA.com)  —   The 19-year-old man who was stuck upside down on the bungee ride at the Ventura County Fair Wednesday night said he's done with that ride.

He talked Thursday with KCAL 9's Amy Johnson about his ordeal -- hanging upside down about 90-100 feet above the ground.

"I said a prayer. I told myself, God I'm not going to die here," said Roger Rodriguez.

He was hanging for minutes, but he says it felt like hours.

Rodriguez' prayers were answered- but there were some tense moments as he hung upside down.

"Hold myself up take a break hold myself up, take a break. Just try to keep my head up," he said.

That was how the college student and cheerleader kept calm during the ordeal.

It was his fourth bungee jump in two years.

"So, I took the fall. The fall was great. Everything went smooth," he said of Wednesday's fall.

Until it didn't. Within seconds he knew something went wrong and cameras were recording it all.

"So, I'm connected to the cage. The cage is connected to a cable that's attached to the ground. And it reels it in and brings it up and down. I guess, that broke and it didn't work so they weren't able to bring the cage down and they weren't able to bring me down," he said.

While he hung upside down- he wasn't alone..

"I was just hoping the cage wouldn't fall," said his friend Eddie Rodriguez who was also stuck inside the cage.

"I tried not to freak out but then I would look down at Roger and he was like completely flipping out  cause you know, he's upside down and I was just trying to keep him calm," said Eddie.

Understandably, Roger was starting to feel the pain and panic.

"When you're above mid air not knowing if the cable is going to snap, and not knowing if you're going to make it out, before pass out before blood starts coming out of your holes, your nose, your ears.  That's how I felt."

The fire department got to him with a ladder and brought him safely down to the ground.

There are conflicting reports about how long Rodriguez was actually hanging upside down -- anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes.

He was checked out at the hospital and is doing fine.

Rodriguez  told Johnson he won't be bungee jumping any longer.