http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...41406,0,7767964.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
A German tourist who collapsed this week after riding the Mission: Space thrill ride at Walt Disney died from bleeding of the brain brought on high blood pressure, according to the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner's Office.
The autopsy of Hiltrud Blümel showed of "severe, long standing high blood pressure," Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia said in a statement released Friday afternoon. There were no signs of trauma, she said.
The official cause and manner of death will not be determined for four to six weeks until results are obtained from tests on the victim's brain, other organs and blood, the doctor said.
Blümel, 49, summoned help at 1:19 p.m. Tuesday, shortly after completing the 4-minute thrill ride that spins up to 160 customers at 2 Gs, twice Earth's gravity, on a mock space flight to Mars, records show.
She died Wednesday at Florida Hospital Celebration Health, according to Disney spokesmen.
Garavaglia's initial findings of "a hypertensive bleed within the brain" confirmed the same diagnosis made by the doctors who treated Blümel.
The death is the second within a year associated with the $100 million ride at Epcot.
Last June, Daudi Bamuwamye, 4, of Sellersville, Pa., died while riding with his mother and sister. An autopsy showed that he suffered from a rare and undiagnosed enlargement of his heart.
A German tourist who collapsed this week after riding the Mission: Space thrill ride at Walt Disney died from bleeding of the brain brought on high blood pressure, according to the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner's Office.
The autopsy of Hiltrud Blümel showed of "severe, long standing high blood pressure," Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia said in a statement released Friday afternoon. There were no signs of trauma, she said.
The official cause and manner of death will not be determined for four to six weeks until results are obtained from tests on the victim's brain, other organs and blood, the doctor said.
Blümel, 49, summoned help at 1:19 p.m. Tuesday, shortly after completing the 4-minute thrill ride that spins up to 160 customers at 2 Gs, twice Earth's gravity, on a mock space flight to Mars, records show.
She died Wednesday at Florida Hospital Celebration Health, according to Disney spokesmen.
Garavaglia's initial findings of "a hypertensive bleed within the brain" confirmed the same diagnosis made by the doctors who treated Blümel.
The death is the second within a year associated with the $100 million ride at Epcot.
Last June, Daudi Bamuwamye, 4, of Sellersville, Pa., died while riding with his mother and sister. An autopsy showed that he suffered from a rare and undiagnosed enlargement of his heart.
