12 Year Old Dies. Sadly, it has happened again.
The boy from Fort Campbell, Tennessee, collapsed at 11:11 a.m. EDT during a ride on the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at the Disney-MGM Studios theme parks. He was with his 7-year-old brother, mother and father, said Sgt. Carlos Torres of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Russell's father and the ride operator attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation with no result, Torres said.
The boy was taken by ambulance to a hospital at about 11:30 a.m., and he subsequently died, Disney said in a statement.
Disney media relations manager Jacob DiPietre said the ride was closed pending an investigation, although he also said an initial review indicated the ride did not malfunction.
"We offer the family our deepest sympathies," DiPietre said in the statement.
The death brought to three the number of Disney guests who have died on the resort's high-thrill rides in slightly more than a year.
The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, which opened in 1999, is an enclosed, 82-second ride with a roll-over corkscrew feature accompanied by a blasting Aerosmith soundtrack. It is presented as a high-speed journey down a mythical Los Angeles freeway.
Disney's Web site says coaster riders will "zoom from 0-60 mph with the force of a supersonic F-14, take in high-speed loops and turns synchronized ... and zip through Tinseltown in the biggest, loudest limo you've ever seen."
Bo Jones, deputy chief of the Reedy Creek Emergency Services, said his department had responded to previous incidents at Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, but no others involving significant injury.
The cause of the boy's death was unclear. full story here
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*****Update*****
Autopsy Results: No Truama Due to Ride
Daudi Bamuwamye of
During the ride, Daudi's mother, Agnes, noticed that his body was rigid and that his legs were stretched straight out, but she thought he was just frightened, according to a sheriff's report.
When the ride ended, the victim was limp and unresponsive, and he could not be revived.
An autopsy Tuesday showed no trauma so further tests will be conducted. A cause of death may not be known for several weeks, said Sheri Blanton, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner in
"Now it's going to be a matter of, "If it wasn'ttrauma, what did it?" Blanton said.
Back to normal
The ride was closed after the death but reopened Tuesday after Disney World engineers concluded that it was operating normally. No changes were made to the ride or to rules regulating who can ride it.
"We believe the ride is safe in its current configuration," Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Polak said. The sheriff's office said the boy met the ride's minimum 44-inch height limit.
More than 8.6 million visitors have gone on
Elsewhere, another heavily promoted, scary theme park ride was shut down last week. The Kingda Ka roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in
On Tuesday, park officials determined that a piece of liner covering an area under the coaster's tracks had dislodged and "damaged a number of other parts," spokeswoman Kristin Siebeneicher told the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press.
Siebeneicher said the park is trying to identify the problem to make sure it does not recur.
Whose fault is this? It is the mother's fault. The mother is responsible for her child dying. I blame the mother. Now before everyone in the blogosphere who reads this goes crazy, let me tell you why I think this.
Coming from a social worker background you have to make the RIGHT choice for your child in every situation. According to the news article I read, he met the height requirements for the ride, but his age was not appropriate for the ride. She did not make the right choice in letting him go on Mission Space. No 4 year old needs to be on this ride. You, as the parent have to make the right choice for your child no matter what age his is.
At this point the jury is still out on why he died. He may have had some medical condition that no one knew about and it was really his time to go. He could have been at school, home, Walt Disney World, church, riding his bike in his neighborhood ....it was his time and God called him home.
I have ridden Mission Space and there are so many warnings everywhere for that ride, you as a mother...me, as a mother, would know that Mission Space is not a ride for very young kids. There are warnings for adults that they should be in good health before getting on Mission Space. Warnings everywhere that it is an intense ride. dirty Fila, my nephew and I rode it for the first time last summer and it was intense. My nephew said he will not ride it again as it made his stomach feel queasy. dirty Fila was just a little dizzy and even I felt slightly off balance after getting off Mission Space. I would ride it again and so would dirty Fila. They were 10 and 11 when they rode it and we talked about all the things they would feel on the ride before we got on: like not to close your eyes regardless of what was happening on the screens in front of them. That is one of the warnings. You must keep your eyes open so that you do not become disoriented. After talking about the ride and what to expect, my nephew and dirty Fila wanted to go on it.
I love Mission Space. It is something out of this world. I have been to WDW before and have seen parents trying to have their kids stand really tall just so that they can sneak on a ride. Each time I have seen this, the parents were BUSTED! by the castmembers. The child did not go on that ride.
I can't blame Disney on this one because there are warnings plastered everywhere about this ride. That mother did not use the sense God gave her when deciding to let a 4 year old go on Mission Space. She had ample warning. It is just like using a swimming pool. You swim at your own risk. There may be lifeguards to help at times. But even so, you are still swimming at your own risk. People who cannot swim a lick jump in the deep end, just out of stupidity and drown. You are putting your own life in harm's way. Nope, I cannot blame Disney on this one. Mother did not make the right decision for her child.
It is very sad and tragic that he is gone, but it is just one of those things. Now when we hear anything about his autopsy results that may indicate something Disney related, I may have to revise my view, but until then mom is on the top of my list.
I do not think this just because I work for Disney and am a castmember (not my fulltime job). (I have mentioned in past posts that I have a part time job that I work infrequently. It is at a Disney facility far away from Florida or California). As a cast member we have very strict guidelines for everything from dressing to safety to speaking--we can only speak the "Disneyese" when onstage. Maybe I am jaded from my past health care careers. I have had to deal with too many crackhead mothers and grandmothers selling the food stamps for drug money and all sorts of other crazy things before we took the kids away from them. Those mothers made no good choices for their kids and many times put the kids in danger.
You do not have to be the dregs of society(crackheads) to make bad choices for your child. Bad things are happening to kids everyday. Parents look away for just a second and toddlers drown in the family pool, lake, river. Kids are left for just a few minutes in the car on hot summer days while parents run into the grocery to get milk. Parents come back and they are dead from the heat. Parents give toddlers hotdogs so that they can choke to death knowing full well, that little piece of hotdog is the exact size of the child's esophagus. On and on I could go.
I blame the mother. She did not make the right choice in letting her 4 year old go on Mission Space. She did not heed the warnings or consider the effect that ride may have had on her child.
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News Article Here
A FOUR-year-old boy has died after passing out during a ride at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Daudi Bamuwamye collapsed on Mission: Space, a ride so intense that it has motion-sickness bags and several riders have been treated for chest pain.The ride simulates a rocket launch and trip to Mars.
Daudi's mother carried his lifeless body off the ride and paramedics and theme park workers tried to revive him, but he was declared dead at a nearby hospital.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office said the boy met the minimum 112cm height requirement for the ride, which uses centrifugal force to simulate twice the normal force of gravity. An autopsy will be carried out to determine the cause of death.
Officials said Daudi, from Sellersville, Pennsylvania, was on the ride with his mother, Agnes, and a sister.
During the ride, his mother noticed Daudi's body was rigid and his legs were stretched out. She told detectives she thought he was frightened, so she took his hand.
"When the ride ended, the victim was limp and unresponsive in his seat," a sheriff's office report said.
What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~
4 Broken Heels:
I would have to know a lot more about everything before blaming anyone, but I think part of the problem would lie with mom, most definitely. A ride that states it should be avoided by pregnant moms, which I understand to be the case, should be avoided by all young children.
My dh said it puts 2gs of force on a person...I have to wonder why such rides are necessary in the first place.
mamacita: those are some strong words. i know that disney pretty much pays for losses regardless of fault.. i have heard this...to maintain good public image. it is like nuscience money...you do not owe it but you pay to make it all go away.
rachel ann: i agree about the 2g's of force. it is an experience for the average person. i bet if we went to space camp, we would think nothing about 2g's.
I don't think any of you have any right to judge this poor mom for the loss of her son. I can understand your feelings IF she KNEW her son had a previous medical condition. I have a 4 yr old son that will ride anything that won't ride him first. I go by all the charts that list the height requirements and so forth. If he's tall enough I let him ride. I'm no ride expert, I follow the guide lines so my children will be safe. You people should be ashamed of yourselves. Do you think for a minute she would intentionally put her child in harms way.
IF the experts aren't properly testing the rides or are in the wrong with the height requirements they are in the blame.
I rode mission space, I thought it was pretty cool and not too intense. My stomach was a little weak when I got off. The only misgiving I have about a 4 yr old riding it is telling them "You have to look forward at all times, don't look from side to side so you won't get sick", and their ability to do that. My 4 yr could with no problem but I don't think every 4 year old could.
I agree with the anonymous person. Seriously . Your blamomg the mother. Now I am not a sue happy person. but As a parent I trust that when they have a height restriction its for a reason. If my child passes that. They should be safe. All rides have warning about being pregnant or neck or back problems..holy cow. A child who is healthy and meets THEIR requirements. Dont blame the mom.
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