The popular X2 roller coaster in California, which in the 2000s became the first in the United States with a four-dimensional operating principle, closed in July this year after two passengers in a row were hospitalized with brain hemorrhages, CNN has found. One of them remained in a coma at the end of August.
The coaster, which is just over 1 km (3,600 ft) long, first opened as X in 2002 and was renamed X2 in 2008 after updating the rides and special effects.
The principle of their operation remained the same for more than 20 years – in addition to sudden changes in height, as on conventional roller coasters, passengers were subjected to rotation in their seats, due to which the declared four-dimensional effect was created.
According to CNN, the attraction at Six Flags in Valencia has already closed after the death of a passenger in 2022. At the time, 22-year-old Christopher Hawley's brothers told police he hit his head multiple times during the ride.
Doctors trying to save the young man’s life discovered that his brain no longer fit into his skull due to internal hemorrhage. The connection between Hawley's fatal injuries and the ride on the attraction was confirmed by forensic experts.
CNN notes that the attraction was back up and running a few days later. The documentation about the safety of the attraction provided by his administration satisfied the California authorities.
In 2017, another passenger sued the company because of a subdural hematoma in her brain, but she was able to negotiate compensation only from the trolley manufacturer, the channel adds. In total, CNN was able to find records of at least 70 neck and head injuries suffered by passengers during the X2's operation, as well as another death in 2010, for which the victim's family received compensation.
New incidents of brain hemorrhages occurred in July involving 40-year-old Pamela Guillén and 25-year-old Naomi Greer-Wilkinson. The latter remained in a coma at the time of CNN's publication on August 27.
Six Flags declined to comment to the channel about its actions after the first incident. The second occurred six days later, while Guillén was in the hospital after undergoing surgery. Doctors (by the way, the same ones who operated on Hawley) had to remove part of her skull due to injuries received when she hit the chair.
“I'm lucky to be alive. I solve problems as they arise and try not to focus on what I was like before and what I could do,” said the woman, who is now learning to walk and talk again.
In Greer-Wilkinson's situation, doctors warned her family to “prepare for the worst.” The girl remains in critical condition – a ventilator and feeding tubes are being used to keep her alive.
Both families noted that Six Flags management stopped contacting them after the passengers were admitted to intensive care. Initially, representatives of the park contacted them only to offer fast food as help, according to CNN interlocutors.
