Community Corner

Lacey Woman To Spend 30 Hours In Six Flags Coffin

The Forked River woman will face challenges such as visits from snake and skunks, as well as sleep deprivation via "Baby Shark" on repeat.

Kerri Platt, of Forked River, donated a kidney to save her mother's life. Now she'll participate in the Six Flags 30-Hour Coffin Challenge.
Kerri Platt, of Forked River, donated a kidney to save her mother's life. Now she'll participate in the Six Flags 30-Hour Coffin Challenge. (Provided by Six Flags)

LACEY, NJ — A Forked River woman will be one of six participating in the Six Flags 30-Hour Coffin Challenge. Kerri Platt will spend 30 hours in a fully covered wooden coffin Oct. 13 and 14 during Fright Fest at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Platt, 47, will receive brief bathroom and phone breaks every three hours. But she'll eat her meals in the coffin and endure creepy challenges. Participants will receive unannounced visits from Fright Fest freaks and live critters, including snakes, spiders and skunks.

A new point system will decide one grand-prize winner and runners up. Challenges will offer coffin dwellers the chance to earn points and penalize them if they waive a challenge.

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Nearly 6,000 people applied. But only six were chosen based on the creativity of their essays.

If anyone is up to the challenge, it's Platt. She has stared death in the face, nearly dying during childbirth. Last year she also donated a kidney to save her mother's life. This was her second year applying for the challenge, and she's ready to show she is "the coolest mom ever," according to Six Flags.

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Highlights of this year's Coffin Challenge will include:

  • Fully-covered coffin lid with just a small mesh hole for that ultra-claustrophobic feeling
  • Games that include live bugs, pungent food items and trivia to earn points, penalties and a “Get Out of the Coffin” card
  • Fewer bathroom, stretch and phone breaks – coffin dwellers will only be permitted to leave the coffin once for 13 minutes every three hours to use the restroom or their phones
  • Sleep deprivation with Yacht Rock and songs like “Baby Shark” on repeat during overnight hours
  • Applications accepted from individuals and pairs who want to conquer the event together
  • Guest emcee Butch Patrick, who starred as Eddie in "The Munsters," will host challenges. The Munsters trivia and the Raising from the Dead Ceremony for any survivors on Oct. 14.
  • Scores will be tabulated throughout the event, and the grand prize winner will receive $600, two Six Flags Gold Passes and two Fright Fest Haunted Maze Passes. Runners up will receive items ranging from Fright Fest day passes to season passes.

Participants will be "laid to rest" in a ceremony at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 13. The dead will rise from their coffins at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 14. The contest takes place in the Demon District of Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson.

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