12-year-old boy dies on Disney's Rock'n'Roller coaster at Disney-MGM studios!!!

[Disneyjosh229]

I feel tragic about what happend on RnRc. Regardless of whos fault it was, we all need to pray for the family. And please, no one needs to interject their personal beliefs on Abortion, last time I checked this was the DISNEY boards....

 

[MyGoofy26]

Haven't read through this entire thread, so I don't know if i's been mentioned. Last night on Anderson Cooper 360 he had Sanjay Gupta on discussing the accident, and all the accidents that happen on rides.

Sanjay mentioned a couple of things that may have happened by freak accident (heart stoppage, small burst in the brain) but said those were VERY unlikely. He went on to say that the organization of neurosurgeouns that he is a member of have stated that those signs listing medical conditions weed out something like 99% of the potential disasters. Most of the deaths on ANY ride are due to problems that the victim, family and doctors were just completely unaware of.

I know there's a constant debate, especially with Mission: Space, about Disney being at fault for having a rough ride, so I just wanted to throw this out there that even a professional organization of neurosurgeons attributes the accidents to unfortunate lack of diagnoses and NOT the ride. Doesn't make it less tragic for the families that are dealing with deaths, but some things are beyond Disney's control.

 

[micknpluto]

These situations are very sad and tragic and I cant imagine what the families are feeling. I was planning on making my Mom go on a few of the bigger rides that she normally would not, at this point I will never force anyone to ride something they dont feel comfortable riding.

My thoughts and prayers are with the boys family.

 

[njchris]

....so you followed through via the lowest common denominator of the guide idiot's to debate: Name calling.

Pot, meet kettle.

 

[La2kw]

I'm a little shocked how cold you are about this situation- you feel bad for the CM's?!?!?!?! What about the people that DIED and their families!!!!!! A normal 12 year old is not tested for pre-existing conditions. In another thread someone once said about Disney bias: if the mouse kicked sand in your kids face you'd say the kid had it coming! The tragedy might not have been Disney's fault but don't blame the victim or the victim's parents either. That is just heartless.

I agree!

 

[JRawkSteady]

I'm a little shocked how cold you are about this situation- you feel bad for the CM's?!?!?!?! What about the people that DIED and their families!!!!!! A normal 12 year old is not tested for pre-existing conditions. In another thread someone once said about Disney bias: if the mouse kicked sand in your kids face you'd say the kid had it coming! The tragedy might not have been Disney's fault but don't blame the victim or the victim's parents either. That is just heartless.

I agree that it is a sad situation... but I think the way the parents of the child who died last year on Mission:Space handled their situation was completely immature. They know it was no-one's fault...just the luck of the draw..and then they have the audacity to sue Disney.. (which I'm sure Disney will settle before it even goes to trial). I think these type of responses cause the cruel posts. I feel terrible for the child (and his family) at RNRC...when we find out more specifics, we'll be able to at least figure out why this happened.

 

[pepperw23]

Last night I had a nightmare that my daughter died, that is how upset this whole thing has me right now. Maybe I am over sensitive because I am close to someone that lost a child last July in a car accident and I have a small idea of what the family is going through right now (no one that has not lost a child can ever truly know IMO and I am NOT claiming to truly know).

Please everyone, lose the debates. This is tragic. It does not matter who is at "fault" maybe no one is, bottom line though, that family lost their young son, placing blame is not going to bring him back.

Here is what my friend said to us at her sons memorial:

"Everyone go home tonight and hug your children. If they are grown children call them, go by their house, whatever....just love them while you can". Very wise words from a very strong woman.

 

[David R]

Several people say that they are shocked that thrill rides do not have defibrillators. Who says they don't? The kid didn't die in the premises. He died in route to the hospital. This means that his heart was beating when he left Disney. A defibrillator will not magically fix any problem. Besides, we don't know if the problem was with the heart, maybe it was, say, a vein in the brain.

As for training the CM on them, the new ones are totally automated and don't really require any training other than "this is where the pads go" and there are clear diagrams.

This story is very sad. I'm sure we'll hear more details in the next couple of days.

 

[pepperw23]

The death is the seventh in 18 months involving people stricken at Walt Disney World attractions, compared with two such deaths in the previous 18 months, according to state records.

2 deaths on Mission Space (health related)

1 death in wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon (health related)

1 death on Pirates of the Carribean (health related)

1 death on Big Thunder Mountian Railroad (person left ride vehicle)

1 death on Rocknroller Coaster (cause unknown)

That is 6 I'm not sure of the 7th.

This is a truely tragic event, my prayers are with this family.

I have an 8 year old in good health. But you never know if your child has an undetected problem. I def not going to force her to ride any thrill rides. If she wants to ride fine, I don't think I could live with myself if I forced her to ride and something happened. I'm not saying that Disney rides are not safe or that this will keep me from riding. I'm just going to let my child decide what rides she wants to ride.

I found this on MSNBC:

In April 2005, a 30-year-old Indiana man with a pacemaker lost consciousness and died after riding the dinosaur ride in Animal Kingdom.

 

[marygraycesmom]

aaand i bet he had some sort of pre-existing condition. don't you just love how guests don't pay attention to the warnings?

and by they way, there are rides in other parks that are A LOT more intense than the ones at disney world. say for instance, this nice little roller coaster in new jersey called kingda ka that basically shoots people at about, oh 120mph+ and straight up 400ft+ in the air? makes rock n' roller coaster look like a kiddie ride.

it's not the rides, it's the pre-existing conditions that sadly some people either know about and don't take seriously or never got checked out during a physical.

i do feel bad for the cm's at rnrc. while i was doing my college program at splash mountain there were 2 deaths at mission: space. and the reason? pre-existing conditions that no one took seriously and/or didn't even look to read the signs like most guests do.

My guess is that you DO NOT have any children of your own. No parent would possibly make that comment upon learning of a child's death.
And when was the last time YOU had your heart checked at a physical other than with a stethiscope? I think you need to check your cynical attitude towards the public at the door. I am amazed that you worked for Disney with an attitude like that towards the public.

I just am floored that anyone would immediately try to blame the parents or the victim in this situation. I am sure that these parents did not plan on having to bury their son when they got home from their family Disney vacation. Where is your sympathy? Can you even imagine all the things that these poor people are dealing with at this very minute? No, I guess you can't since you are incapable of liking or being concerned about anyone (other than yourself, i guess.)


Well, here is my attempt at sending a little pixie dust out to the boy's family.
They will be in my prayers in the coming days. My condolences to them. May God bless them.

 

[KimberlyC]

As for the AED, I agree then need more, and yes they would need, least in my opinion all CM's on the use of them, since CM's can be moved around from time to time. But the thing is, even with the training, can all CM's handle and emergency such as this? Will they all be able to keep a level head and be able to use the AED, and use it properly? I miss used AED could as easily be harmful (though I don't know alot about them), but if not set right, could it not do more harm than good?

Would it also not be benificial to have more EMT stations close to these more intense rides, just for this purpose?

ITA, more AED's are needed without question. It just seems to me this is a relatively economical way for Disney to better be prepared should tragedy strike one of its guests. It certainly would not hurt to have them and the money spent to buy them and train CMs could be saved on not having to deal with as much bad PR and legal expenses related to tragedies. My understanding is that they are not difficult to use. My last office had about 60ish employees and we had an AED in the center of our office space just in case.

AED's do save lives. 5 years ago my co-worker's husband (about 45 at the time) died (6 times) at a rock concert. Fortunately, paramedics routinely attend concerts and an AED was on hand. He was revived 6 times and is alive today because of it. He didn't know he had a problem, but now he does and it is checked regularly. He was told in no uncertain terms that if he had the heart attack at home or anywhere else (and he would have had it regardless) without that AED he would not have survived. So as ironic (and weird) as it is, Ozzy Osbourne (and an AED) saved his life. And no he wasn't "on" anything regardless of how many times the paramedics asked this question. They are a professional couple who simply still enjoy the music of their youth.

Sure it may not help but it can't hurt. JMHO.

 

[ww52]

I apologize for not reading thorugh all the posts on this and the other threasds - so this point may have already been made and discussed.

Obviously there are wilder rides than RnRC. Obviously, there are many accidents and detahs at theme parks and fairs across the country. Disney's recond probably stands up very well in terms of number of incidents per year, with or without adjusting for the number of visitors and the number of riders.

But like it or not, there is an aura around the Disney name that gets damaged just a bit more that other parks if something like this happens. Let's be honest - what makes Disney so magical to all of us actually works against them somewhat (in perception) when this happens.

Say a 12 year old boy dies on one of the coasters at Cedar Point. Well, they are known for thrill rides, so their reputation doesn't suffer at all. Not much publicity - again becuase that's what they are known for anyway. People are saddened, but I guess it's easier to say "these things happen" when it's another park.

But Disney worked so hard at setting themsleves apart from the "other parks" and now they get the downside of that. It's the happiest place on earth - but 7 deaths in 18 months kind of spoils that phrase.

There is no "fix" for this - RnRC is not a wild ride; they have all the warnings they need. It was correct that they offered a tamer Mission Space experience. I suspect they will never make a ride that intense ever again. But they can't just have Pirates and Small Worlds all over. They have to have a variety of ride experiences - and live through these unfortunate situations.

 

[bridegirl]

My heart just breaks for the family, and the young brother.

I can't imagine the horror of trying to give your own child CPR, deperate to revive him, trying not to panic -- what a brave Dad.

I agree with all the posters that say we should hug our children, love our family and friends, that life is short, and anything can happen. We should be grateful for each day, each moment.

So unbearably sad,

Susy

 

[clkelley]

This reminds me of an email I received a few days ago from a friend. It is below

Although we do things more cautiously than we did back then, we can't protect our families from everything. This incident was nobody's fault.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE

1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking .

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem .

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no

lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,

made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.



We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO

DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Like everyone else, I am just so saddened for this family. I just keep replaying in mind the vision of them being at MGM, riding RNRC, all happy, never knowing for one instant that their lives were about to change forever. And the fact that this dad had served his country in Iraq, thereby making this vacation all the more necessary and special for this family, just adds more sadness and irony to the situation. He survived that, got home to his family and then this happened. I have a son who is 11 and a daughter 9 and I think of all the times we have ridden that ride as a family and it really haunts me. I pray that this family can get through this, God bless them and help them. And yes, I feel sorry for the cm's too. On a much different level of course, but can you imagine how this all felt for them as it unfolded. I know my son, he'll probably never ride this ride again and I certainly won't make him (he refuses to ride Mission Space now, it used to be his favorite), my daughter likely will continue riding it and I will let her but I doubt I'll ever not think about this family when any of us do ride RNRC.

 

[keekeeb]

Guys, just because we read it on the news or see on tv doesn't mean it's factual! With respect to this family and the families of past victims, end this debate and guessing game. Whether they knew or didn't know about their health condition, it's none of our business and it's morally wrong to assume so. Instead of assuming what really happened and giving professional opinions as if you "stayed in a Holiday Inn Express", pray that the families can pull through this and something positive can come out of situations like these. If you want to post a message, make it a chain of prayer or positive comments/quotes for the family's sake.

"They who love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill what never dies" William Penn

 

[FlyingBelle]

There are AEDs placed every 1 minute walking distance at O'Hare Airport in Chicago - currently their survival rates are close to 80%!! That is astounding, because the national average is extremely low, around 5%. AEDs are VERY easy to learn how to use, even kids can be taught!

The American Heart Assoc. came to speak about healthy living at work a little while back...

They stated the safest place to have a heart attack outside of a hospital is at an airport! Not only are they all over the airport, I believe all of United's planes have them.

Disney (and all theme parks) should have them at every ride. The inital cost of the units and training would be well worth the investment in terms of saved lives and bad pr.

 

[chigirl]

WW52 I agree with you...Six Flags Great America here in Chicago has had many accidents and deaths in the 25 years they have been open, and many have been THEIR fault, versus medical conditions. Disney is thought of as an ultra-safe, magical place that nothing could happen at, so it does come as more of a shock, plus the media plays it up sooooo much. Children were seriously hurt last month at Six Flags and they covered it up but the local media found out, but who knows about that? The media always plays up the incidents at Disney, IMO.

It is so tragic this young boy lost his life while his family was on a dream trip to Disney, that goes without saying.

It makes me sad it was this ride because on my son's 8th birthday this past Sept. we were the "First Family" at MGM and I will never forget the look of joy on my son's face when he saw he was tall enough to go on the coaster. It was one of the pixie dust moments on the trip. I feel so bad for that poor family!

 

[#1MMFan]

Cardiorespiratory arrests due to arrhythmias are relatively rare in children. I think whilst it would be useful to see a child's ECG (EKG for Americans) as a routine in advanced CPR, often there is not a "shockable" rhythm as opposed to adults who collapse with VF.

 

[Jennasis]

Several people say that they are shocked that thrill rides do not have defibrillators. Who says they don't? The kid didn't die in the premises. He died in route to the hospital. This means that his heart was beating when he left Disney. A defibrillator will not magically fix any problem. Besides, we don't know if the problem was with the heart, maybe it was, say, a vein in the brain.

As for training the CM on them, the new ones are totally automated and don't really require any training other than "this is where the pads go" and there are clear diagrams.

This story is very sad. I'm sure we'll hear more details in the next couple of days.

It is quite likely that the boys heart was not beating when he left Disney property. He was PRONOUNCED dead at Celebration hospital. I think it is a fairly well accepted notion that nobody is ever pronounced dead at Disney since only a physician can pronounce anyone dead (not EMT's) anyway. If they were doing CPR on the boy then his heart must not have been beating onsite at the ride.


Whatever...it's all pointless (the debating) as this is a tragic, heart-breaking scenario for the family and I hope to never experience anything like this. My heart goes out to them.