this is "nightline." >> tonight, vacation danger. it seems like a harmless thrill ride, until a carefree adventure went terribly wrong. questions are raised about the safety of parasailing, this survivor speaks out about the 14 minutes that hm turned a dream vacation into her worst nightmare. plus, nothing says summer like barbecue. and here in texas, it's big business. now there's some hot new competition, and you'll never guess where it's coming from. >> i'm not sure if they use this technique in texas, but the pizza still works for us in new york. >> get fired up for the barbecue wars. and america saw a terribly good-looking convict.

but this hollywood agent saw a business opportunity. >> i tried to monetize the entire situation from the beginning. >> tonight, the ugly truth about cashing in on infamy. >> has it been lucrative for you? >> very lucrative. >> but first, the "nightline" five.

good evening. lots of us plan our vacations by thrill seeking adventures. but carefree adventures can turn dangerous. fast. tonight, a teen survivor speaks out for the first time since her horrifying accident was captured on video. abc's matt gutman brings us her incredible survival story. >> reporter: it started off as an adventure. >> i was videotaping them and taking pictures. you can see them down here. >> reporter: 18-year-old sidney goode and her friend alexis fairchild parasailing in panama city, florida. >> you just assume that everything is safe. they tell you, they advertise it, safe, fun. you expect that. >> reporter: fun. that's what parasailing is supposed to be, a recreational sport that gently lofts you up

500 feet over the water. but for them, the serenity of flying like a bird turns terrifying. watch as the unthinkable happens 13 minutes into their adventure. >> it was really bad, the feeling of the wind. like that feeling was terrible. >> reporter: after winds gust, the cable attaching the parasail to the boat snaps, flinging the dpirls headlong into this 13-story building. >> they're at the commodore and a parasail just smashed into the top of it. >> reporter: people on the balconies tried desperately to hold on to the girls to keep them from flying away. >> i remember flying into the building. the only thing i felt was the people's arms grab me. and then i woke up in the hospital bed with a breathing tube in. >> reporter: were you guys screaming while flying through the air? >> oh, yeah. obviously no one could have done anything at that point. >> reporter: bouncing off the condo and over it, they careened

into power lines, crashing down onto this parked suv, where paramedics and sidney's father found them. could you tell that she was alive? >> no. they were bagging her. i didn't know if she was alive or not. >> reporter: in critical condition, both teens were rushed to the hospital. once there, doctors knew they only had moments. sidney was hooked up to a ventilator, undergoing emergency brain surgery. >> even if you think that she's going to wake up and come out and breathe on her own, we didn't know if she could walk or talk. they told us she may not remember. >> reporter: but eight days after the accident, sidney finally came to. >> when i woke up and said that, because i had just gotten off my breathing tube, i had no idea. it just amazes me how that happened to me and i can't remember it. >> reporter: and now, one year hater, for the very first time,

sidney is sharing her story with us on that very same beach where she came so close to death. >> i think about it constantly. i have reminders of it, my scars, everything reminding me of it. and everybody always brings it up to me. >> reporter: but sidney and alexis' ordeal is not isolated. over the past 30 years, 429 people have been seriously injuring parasailing in the u.s. 73 have died. turns out, the equipment used in parasailing is not required to be inspected by any government agency. that includes the tow lines and the harness. no agency performs any kind of mandatory inspections on the safety equipment. it's been left up to each individual operator to define safety as they see fit without repercussi repercussions. yesterday, the national safety transportation board issued a stinging rebuke of the

parasailing industry, accusing operators of poor judgment, lack of experience and improper training. now they can only recommend that all operators be licensed by the coast guard, which doesn't sit well with sidney's mom. so when the ntsb calls for more regulations but can't enforce them, how does that make you sneel >> it makes me sick. >> reporter: the w59er sports association industry says it was weather and not faulty equipment that caused the accident. yesterday, sidney and her parents visited the hospital and the very doctors who had saved her life. >> thank you. >> you look great. >> reporter: what did she look like when shep first stepped in here? >> oh. >> you look wonderful today. >> reporter: the team worked day after day keep sidney alive and her friend, alexis. what makes you cry when you

think about it? >> everything. it just amazes me that i'm here to walk and talk to them. >> when they walk in like this, it makes everything worth it. >> reporter: the girls have a long road ahead of them. both still suffer from brain damage according to the lawyer. sidney's friend, alexis, now reads at a third to fourth grade reading level and sidney at a fifth to sixth grade level. both had titanium plates and screws inserted in their heads for multiple facial fractures and they have endured damaged optic nerves. and sidney had little recollection of the doctors who took care of her for weeks on end. >> sidney, how are you doing? >> good. i don't recognize you. >> you probably don't remember any of this. >> we saved your life. >> well, thank you. i'll give you a hug.

>> reporter: but sidney did remember one doctor, rebecca, who promised sidney she would walk again. >> you're so brave and strong. you can do anything, right? and you have. >> reporter: and that she did. at her high school graduation, just shy of year after nearly dying on that beach. flashing that sunshine smile. for "nightline," i'm matt gutman in panama city beach, florida. up next, the barbecue battles begin. can you handle the heat? us. is a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps end our night before it even starts? what if i eat the wrong thing? what if? what if i suddenly have to go? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need,

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with the tourt of july around the corner, everyone from rank amateurs to decorated chefs are firing up the grill. so who does it best? they've always claimed bragging rights down south, but some say the best barbecue comes from a yankee upstart. ♪ >> reporter: we're on the road. about to taste the holy grail of all grills. it's barbecue, and here beef is religion. >> that's a fatty brisket right there. >> reporter: in texas alone, there are over 1900 joints. a typical day here in austin looks something like this. the lines never seem to die

down. >> i was going to be here at 8:00 a.m., but i just couldn't wait. so i got down here at 7:30. >> reporter: even then you still aren't guarantied a chance to taste the world famous cuisine. but nobody seeds to mind. it's all part of the foodie experience. >> how is it? >> love in your mouth. >> reporter: the best advertisement for the barbecue business are the customers themselves. barbecue is big business nationwide. tennessee, louisiana, the carolinas, and now new york. yes, that's right. east coast barbecue is a top contender against the southern king of meat. and this summer it's an all-out barbecue war. >> we would stand up to anything that's happening in texas right now. >> reporter: billy is bodyguard turned barbecue pit master. he opened hometown barbecue in brooklyn less than a year ago. >> we barbecue on the foot of

the statue of liberty. we light the fires and see the sun come over here. it's an amazing place to cook barbecue. >> reporter: just five mails away, they head to delaney barbecue. >> i smelled my first brisket when i was three days old. >> reporter: my take on what's considered number one, and that's texas barbecue. >> someone has to unthrone the legends, right? we're always competing in one sense or another. >> reporter: but as a native texan, i had to see myself. i grew up on texan style barbecue. i'm hungry. >> pork rib, sausage, turkey. >> we've been doing great briskets for a couple of years now. and hometown barbecue opened up

last year. they do texas meats as well as anybody in texas. really phenomenal how quickly they've been able to master it. >> reporter: daniel is the only barbecue editor. he's been to almost 900 barbecue joints. >> when you're in a city that doesn't have any good barbecue yet, it takes that one really good place to open up to create the barbecue culture in that say. >> reporter: now these joints are foodie destinations. >> i'm not sure they use this technique in texas, but we're in texas. so it works for us. >> reporter: new york barbecue has the freedom to inslow nate. >> that's no rules. we do a baby back rib. there's no way my brother in north carolina could be cooking this. they would send them to a therapist or something like this. >> reporter: the space in brooklyn allows tony to cook his barbecue in a more traditional way. he says the secret is in the

fire. >> we could probably cook around 3,000 to 4,000 founds a meat at a time in these two guys. it's all about the fire in this box and the meat in this container is just getting in the way of a really great fire. we cook until about 3:00. on the weekends, between 3,000, 5,000 pounds, depending on the weekend. >> reporter: what's your best selling item? >> the restaurant is none for brisket. we rubble them in salt pepper, we stand by the smoker 24 hours a day putting wood in there. besides the zip code, they're not much difference from what the greats are doing in texas and what we try to do every day here. >> reporter: despite their new found barbecue fame, these new york pit masters say it's surprisingly simple. >> it's no secret. it's about none of those things. you can put a brisket in with

nothing on it. and if you know really -- really know how to operate this tool that you're cooking with, you're going to be able to produce really great food. if you put the time in, though, you'll be able to produce stuff that's much better than we can produce here. >> it doesn't matter where you are. that's nothing in me that says it's got to be in texas to be good barbecue. next, there may be a new and lucrative future in store for the hot convict whose mugshot has women everywhere swooning. could this be the ultimate prison rags to riches story? hey, buddy? oh, hey, flo. you want to see something cool? snapshot, from progressive. my insurance company told me not to talk to people like you. you always do what they tell you? no... try it, and see what your good driving can save you. you don't even have to switch.

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you probably saw it. it was the mugshot seen around the world. or at least ogled over online. tonight, one fine fellow has landed a hollywood agent who thinks he could be wearing stripes on the runway. here's abc's neal karlinsky. >> reporter: even from behind bars, jeremy meeks, the convict, mugshot mcdreamy, seems to be stretching his 15 minutes of fame into overtime. >> i appreciate that everyone thinks i'm handsome. >> reporter: he now has an

agent, gina rodriguez, to go along with his viral mugshot, swooned over across the country since he was arrested on a felony weapons charge as part of a gang sweep in stockton, california. rodriguez told abc news "jeremy has an amazing look and has received international attention, which i feel can only help him flourish in the entertainment industry. in fact, soon, he might be able to add modeling to his rap sheet, allegedly in talks with agencies, saying he could make in where between $3,000 to $100,000 a month through endorsements and modeling. we're also speaking to several production companies about following his for ray into the entertainment industry. rodriguez is no stranger to scandalous clientele. as she told us in 2011, that's exactly who she is after. what is this business? >> i'm managing the mistresses and all the people at scandal.

>> reporter: what does that mean exactly? >> i've taken these girls involved in these sex scandals and built them a career. i was watching the scandals happen one after another, all these cheating scandals. i saw there was a vacant space there and i grabbed them. >> reporter: and grabbed them she has. a business she says was built on the backs of tiger woods' alleged mistresses, know includes a slew of tv housewives, and donald sterling's former mistress, and anthony weiner's alleged former sexting partner sidney leathers to name just a few. of course, cashing in on infamy is no sure bet. remember michelle magee who made headlines for breaking up sandra bullock's marriage. most people would say that having a tattoo of a swastika and breaking up sandra bullock's marriage would not be a great

path towards fame, riches, anything but being generally dishiked. >> i have being viewed as the villain, breaking up america's sweet heart marriage. >> reporter: she told us it was the beginning of a whole new career for us. but a search today yielded barely a mention since 2011. >> modeling agencies always want to take on the hottest, most talked about person in media. >> reporter: trend watcher britney lavigne says social media is creating stars in places no one would have dare looked a few short years ago. >> i never heard of agents actually having to comb through mug shots or look at mugshots to find their next big thing. i think because of social media and because everything is instantly catapulted out there, it makes sense for agents now to look am those things and want to be a part of it, too. >> reporter: for gina, it's just

business. >> i try to monetize the entire situation from the beginning for them. and that's through their images, appearances, anything we can do for them. >> reporter: has it been lucrative for you? >> very lucrative, yes. >> reporter: hard to say what kind of magic she can work for jeremy weeks. i'm neal karlinsky for "nightline" in seattle. >> just when you think you can't be shocked. thanks for watching abc news. "world news" now is coming up soon with overnight breaking news. tune in to "good morning america" tomorrow and we're online at abcnews.com. good night, america.