12 year old girl dies after collapsing at typhoon lagoon

crusader

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Just heard this:

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationw...2824.story?coll=ny-leadnationalnews-headlines

Girl dies after collapsing at Disney park
The Virginia 12-year-old passed out next to the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon.

By Willoughby Mariano
Sentinel Staff Writer

August 5, 2005


A 12-year-old girl died Thursday evening after passing out at the wave pool at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon, marking the third time in three months that a young person has suddenly fallen critically ill while visiting Walt Disney World.

The girl was sitting by herself on one of the simulated islands that dot the water park's wave pool about 6 p.m. when a lifeguard approached her to check on her, said Crystal Candy, a spokeswoman with the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

The child, who was visiting with cousins and an aunt from Newport News, Va., told the lifeguard she was fine and asked to be left alone. But when she stood up, she immediately passed out and the lifeguard signaled for help.

Employees dialed 911 and monitored the girl's vital signs, Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty said.

The girl's pulse stopped and she stopped breathing, so lifeguards began cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

But it was too late.

Reedy Creek Fire Rescue transported the girl to Florida Hospital Celebration Health, where she was pronounced dead, Candy said.

"It is mysterious," Candy said. She would not identify the girl pending notification of her parents, who were not on the trip. The girl was out of the water when she fell ill.

Bo Jones, a spokesman for Reedy Creek Fire Rescue, called the incident "baffling."

Officials did not know what the girl was doing before lifeguards approached her. Family members, who were nearby when the lifeguard first approached her, told deputies the 12-year-old has no known medical conditions.

Jones said paramedics followed established procedures in their attempts to revive the girl.

Thursday's incident is the third sudden critical illness of a young person visiting Walt Disney World in three months. It is the second fatality.

On June 13, Daudi Bamuwamye, 4, of Pennsylvania collapsed on Epcot's Mission: Space ride and later died. Inspections showed no signs of ride malfunction, and investigators are awaiting results of an Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner's report.

On July 12, Leanne Deacon, 16, of Kibworth, England, suffered cardiac arrest shortly after exiting Disney-MGM Studio's Twilight Zone Tower of Terror thrill ride. A CT scan after her collapse showed she was bleeding in her brain.

Although Leanne complained of leg cramps and headaches before her collapse, her mother, June Deacon, told deputies that she too had no known medical conditions.

Leanne remained in critical condition Thursday at Florida Hospital Orlando. Family members have not disclosed further information.

Officials from the Florida Department of Agriculture Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection and Disney found the Tower of Terror operated properly.

The 61-acre Typhoon Lagoon simulates the remains of a Caribbean island village battered by storms. A vast surfing lagoon creates what the park advertises as "one of the world's largest artificially created waves for body surfing," according to one company description.

A Disney company official was dispatched to Florida Hospital Celebration Health to tend to the family's needs. Disney spokeswoman Prunty expressed condolences on behalf of her company.

"Our first thought is for the girl's family," Prunty said.
 
Why are we hearing of so many incidents this year? Is it a fluke or is it because of the new reporting requirements that theme parks are faced with? Any experts have an idea?
 
I have no idea but I'd be very interested in finding out. Anyone?
 
sorcerermick said:
Why are we hearing of so many incidents this year? Is it a fluke or is it because of the new reporting requirements that theme parks are faced with? Any experts have an idea?
They are not faced with new reporting requirements. They agreed voluntairly to report incidents 4 years ago. Thus the new "requirements" have been around for some time. These incidents are a combination of fluke, hotter weather, increased crowds and a news media that is reporting disney stories that would not have made the national papers previously but are now headline new.
 

WDW is basically a city the size of San Fran with a few hundred thousand people on property at any given time. How many deaths were reported in your hometown last year ?
 
FrozenTundra said:
WDW is basically a city the size of San Fran with a few hundred thousand people on property at any given time. How many deaths were reported in your hometown last year ?
Yeah, and look at car accidents. If the same percentage of drivers who die in accidents applied to MK visitors, then about 1770 guests would die each year.
 
/
I don't think the reporting is necessarily focused on WDW. You can read news snippets of deaths similar to this on the CNN or Fox News websites involving most of our home towns.
 
peter11435 said:
Why, he is completly correct.

It's all about tone, that's all. I had a genuine curiosity as to why we are hearing more about these incidents. I don't know if I'm just paying more attention to news stories about WDW since I'm a recent DVC owner or if there is another reason. I get tired of people innocently posing questions or opinions and the next thing you know we have a full blown debate. I was trying to prevent it....moving on.... :rolleyes: :love2:
 
You're telling me that after a CNN snippet reports a death in your hometown that the snippets that follow also remind viewers of a death that occured months earlier ? I must have a different cable provider.

My point is that the ONLY reason this is a national news story is because it is Disney.
 
FrozenTundra said:
You're telling me that after a CNN snippet reports a death in your hometown that the snippets that follow also remind viewers of a death that occured months earlier ? I must have a different cable provider.

My point is that the ONLY reason this is a national news story is because it is Disney.
Nope that's not what I am telling you. That is what you are choosing to to read. I was merely pointing out that in the news snippets found on both the CNN and Fox News website there are frequently local stories similar to this. And yes if there have been other similar deaths then they get reported as well. The OVERALL point I was making is I do not believe WDW is being singled out in this type of coverage but apparently i touched some sort of nerve with you so i offer my humblest of apologies for whatever affront I have offered.
 
I'm sorry if my post came across as snapping at you or anybody else that posted to this thread, that was not my intention.

I'm frustrated that the news media only cares about this because it is Disney. They try to make it sound as if there is an epidemic of death happening at WDW when in fact there is an incredibly low mortality rate on property if you think of WDW as a big city - which it is.

Also consider that millions of guests are probably exerting more energy doing "commando" in WDW then they have exerted in years during their normal lives. They eat more,drink more, play more, subject their bodies to spins,dips and G's then they do in their normal lives, yet we don't see a steady stream of hearsts leaving the property.
 
FrozenTundra said:
WDW is basically a city the size of San Fran with a few hundred thousand people on property at any given time. How many deaths were reported in your hometown last year ?

I don't think the analogy holds because the demographics are completely different. And I also don't think they are focusing on Disney per se - I remember plenty of news reports about accidents and incidents at other parks.
Still, I think your point that WDW is a reasonably safe environment is probably a valid one.
 
I realize my analogy isn't perfect, but I also don't think the demos are terribly far off. From what I've observed the age diversity seems pretty much on par with the average hometown. About the only real aboration would be that for a city as large as WDW the "population" is predominately white.

Well....one other major difference...... I don't think ANY city in America has as many of them electric wheel chairs as WDW.
 
The situations aren't even close. Somebody about to pass from cancer isn't likely to be on a trip to WDW. They are at home or in a hospital in their hometown. Gangs, traffic, crime rates and even pregnancies and births are going to make "death rates" not even in the same league.

That said, I agree that this particular situation doesn't seem to have anything to do with anything Disney did "wrong". However, Disney HAS had a few incidents lately that most definitely have been their complete fault, most prominently the Big Thunder Mountain incident at DL. It didn't help that after re-opening, the same ride had a couple of other minor accidents.

The M:S situation still has open questions. Its a fairly new ride with a certain reputation, and Disney even fueled that reputation, so people are going to find the incident newsworthy.

Then we have the California Screamin' accident from last week, and the news that Disney changed the braking system earlier this year without consulting the manufacturer, Intamin. Of course, Disney's position is that they themselves are the manufacturer, and Intamin is a subcontractor, but still, many industry insiders are expressing surprise at Disney's policy.

So I understand the frustration at a situation like the one that happened at Typhoon Lagoon being reported nationally and mentioned with some of these other incidents.

However, that's also what's going to happen when a highly visible company has some significant issues that could have been avoided.

Lets also remember that another reason Disney gets so much attention for these types of things is simply their popularity and recognition. They reap tremendous rewards from these things, so we probably don't need to feel TOO badly for them when they get some negative publicity.
 
Matt, my "City" analogy deals more with the "stuff happens" death rate more then illness or murder. But I think we're on the same page.
 
Plenty of people, both children and adults, have medical conditions that are difficult to diagnose--particularly if no one has been looking for them.
Going on certain types of rides may cause these latent conditions to manifest themselves. There really is no way to protect yourself against this sort of thing except to avoid going on any type of ride that creates stress and pressure on your brain and body.
 

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