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View Full Version : 12 yr. old boy dies after coaster ride @Disney MGM theme park



JewelsRose
06-29-2006, 02:46 PM
This really rattles my nerves. My grandson rides these things all the time. !

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/boy-dies-after-disney-roller-coaster/20060629161709990020?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Boy Dies After Disney Roller Coaster Ride
By TRAVIS REED, AP

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (June 29) - A 12-year-old boy died after riding a roller coaster Thursday at the Disney MGM theme park, the Orange County sheriff's office said.

The boy died after he was brought by ambulance to a hospital at about 11:30 a.m., a Disney statement said. The cause of death was not immediately known, Sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons said.

Park officials closed the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster but said a preliminary investigation showed the ride was operating normally.

A Disney Web site description of the ride says: "Zoom from 0-60 mph with the force of a supersonic F-14, take in high-speed loops and turns synchronized to a specially recorded Aerosmith soundtrack."

Two other people have died after going on another Disney ride, Epcot's "Mission: Space." The space simulator spins riders in a centrifuge that subjects them to twice the normal force of gravity.

Daudi Bamuwamye, 4, of Sellersville, Pa., died June 13, 2005. An autopsy determined he died of an irregular heartbeat linked to an abnormal thickening of the heart muscle that can cause sudden death.

In April, a 49-year-old woman from Germany became ill and died after taking the ride. A medical examiner's report said she died from bleeding of the brain and had severe high blood pressure.

The ride has signs warning people with heart, back and neck problems not to ride. Epcot now offers a tamer version of the ride that does not include centrifugal force.

Disney MGM is among the Walt Disney Co.'s four parks in Florida.


06/29/06 16:16 EDT


Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

DezaRay24
06-29-2006, 03:18 PM
Ahhhhh that is really sad! :(

dv8grl
06-29-2006, 04:11 PM
I love the ROCK N' ROLLER-COASTER. I've riden it a zillion times.

I feel for the family, but I'd like to know what the medical examiners report is on this.

People are always so quick to blame the coasters, or other rides, but all in all its usually the person had some kind of pre-existing condition.

The particular coaster does go 0-60 in seconds, its also in a very confined, and its completly pitch, black, except for the occasional black-lighted signs., I could definately see someone getting hurt if they somehow managed to move around.

My sister (who has had servers trauma to the brain yra ago)
could only ride it once, becasue all the strobe lights , black lights and very loud Areosmith music., after she road it, she had to sit down for quite sometime.. we thought she was going to pass out.

Freebeemom
06-30-2006, 06:17 AM
Not to make light of the death, because it is horriable...I couldnt imagine this happening to me...but how many HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE go on these rides a year? Sometimes, people have predisposed problems that are not noticiable until a trajedy like this. He could have had a heart problem..undetected, or brought on by this trauma. PErsonally, I loved these when I was a kid, but now, I wouldn't go on them. I just don't think people are meant to move that fast.

janelle
06-30-2006, 12:07 PM
The ride has signs warning people with heart, back and neck problems not to ride.

I see that sign RIGHT BEFORE ONE IS SUPPOSE TO GET ONTO THE RIDE. How does a person always know? :confused:

dv8grl
06-30-2006, 12:30 PM
Autopsy: Boy at Disney had heart defect

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060630/ap_on_re_us/disney_death

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The 12-year-old boy who died after riding a Walt Disney World roller coaster had a congenital heart defect, a medical examiner ruled Friday.

The autopsy of Michael Russell was done one day after he passed out while riding Disney-MGM's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. His father, an Iraq war veteran, performed CPR on the boy, but Michael was pronounced dead at a hospital.

"No evidence of injury was found but congenital heart abnormalities were detected, which will be further evaluated," the Orange County medical examiner's office said in a statement.

The cause of death was left pending until additional test are conducted, Dr. Sara H. Irrgang, an associate medical examiner, ruled.

Disney World reopened the coaster Friday after determining that nothing mechanical caused the boy's death. A Disney Web site description of the ride says: "Zoom from 0-60 mph with the force of a supersonic F-14, take in high-speed loops and turns synchronized to a specially recorded Aerosmith soundtrack."

"Walt Disney World engineers and ride system experts completed a thorough inspection of the attraction overnight and found it to be operating properly," the company said in a statement. "A representative from the state Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection observed the ride inspection and testing."

Disney and other large amusement parks are exempt from state oversight, but Disney has allowed government inspectors to watch after fatalities.

The boy's father, Byron Russell, noticed that Michael became limp while they rode the coaster along with his mother and 7-year-old brother. When the minute-long ride finished, Russell pulled Michael off and performed CPR until paramedics arrived, said Barbara Miller, Orange County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.

Miller said Russell told officials that the boy was healthy and that the family didn't know of any underlying medical problems.

The company and military said they were assisting the family.

The father is a part of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) based at Fort Campbell, Ky., and served in Iraq, said special forces Command spokesman Maj. Jim Gregory.

"You can't even put words to how devastating this would be," Gregory said.

Michael's death was the latest in a string of tragedies at Walt Disney World in recent years. At least 15 people have died at Disney's theme parks in Florida and California since 1989, including some with pre-existing health conditions. Disney-MGM is among Disney's four Florida parks.

Most of the company's recent troubles have been over another ride — Epcot's "Mission: Space," a rocketship attraction that simulates a flight to Mars.

Two people have died in the last year after going on the ride, which spins in a centrifuge that subjects riders to twice the normal force of gravity. Now Disney offers people an option to ride a tamer version of the ride that does not spin