NOTE: The image shown in the holiday card is not the actual image of the harness breaking.

Sandra Morelli climbed into the renowned steel accelerator roller coaster Kingda Ka in August as her two young daughters, who didn’t meet the minimum height requirement, watched their mom from the sidelines with others.

It was a hair-raising ride the Marlboro woman will never forget — but not for the usual amusement-park reasons.

Morelli’s left shoulder harness “snapped off” just as the ride was ready to launch, she said. Morelli had no time to alert staff. She feared she would fall out.

Update:Great Adventure to be fined over Marlboro mom's Kingda Ka nightmare

“The only thing I could do was hold on for dear life and yell out that I love my children,” she said.

The ride, billed as the world’s tallest and second-fastest roller coaster, sends park-goers on a wild trip up and down a 90-degree section of track at startling speeds.

"You’ll leave the station going from 0 to 128 miles per hour in a jaw-dropping 3.5 seconds," the Great Adventure web site reads.

Morelli survived Kingda Ka unscathed, but she left the park feeling unsatisfied with Six Flag Great Adventure staff’s response to the moments of terror she spent on the ride.

Yet Morelli, animated and brimming with positivity, took what she saw as a frustrating and frightening experience and turned it into holiday cheer.

She made a Christmas card out of the ordeal. And she sent copies to friends, family, and to the Asbury Park Press as well, prompting a fresh round of inquiry into the summertime mishap.

"I needed closure," she said.

This time, in the illustration shared by Morelli, her daughters, 8 and 6, are on the ride as is her husband. Morelli holds the left strap in hand comically exaggerating how badly it malfunctioned, with a look of shock.

As it turns out, Morelli found out Tuesday that she had nothing to fear, according to Great Adventure.

A Six Flags Great Adventure spokeswoman said Tuesday the straps are merely for comfort and are not part of the a custom-designed restraint system. The lap bar securely held Morelli and was functioning properly, said spokeswoman Kristin Fitzgerald.

"The strap in question was replaced and our records indicate that our Guest Relations management spoke to the guest at length on August 31, explaining that the safety system functioned properly during her ride and that she was safe at all times," Fitzgerald said.

“I wish I had known that,” Morelli said. She does not recall hearing that the straps were only for comfort.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Community Affairs, which oversees amusement park safety, said Wednesday the department was notified by the Morelli about four days after the incident. Department staff inspected the ride Sept. 6 and found nothing in the maintenance logs to show the mishap occurred, the spokeswoman Lisa Ryan said in an email.

" As it relates to the ride, the bar on the lap is the support. The straps are made for comfort instead of padded bars, but are part of the restraint system and intended to limit unwanted movement," she said.

Fitzgerald responded Wednesday night, writing, " We will work directly with the DCA to answer any additional questions they may have."

Morelli says Great Adventure staff gave her the runaround about her complaint. It wasn't until her friend posted her account of the problem on Twitter Aug. 31 that Six Flags Great Adventure took action, she said.

She didn’t end up with nothing.

After much wrangling, Great Adventure gave her a 40 percent discount on season tickets, she said. And she returned to Kingda Ka to overcome her lingering fear, she said.

“The safety of our guests is our No. 1 priority and we apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused Ms. Morelli,” the spokeswoman Fitzgerald said in her initial email responding to Press inquiries.

Ken Serrano: 732-643-4029; kserrano@gannettnj.com