Teen flown back to UK Hopital* Update Teen Suffers Cardiac Arrest

[bubba73]

I pray that God will be with that young girl and her family. But I also have to say that if she had a medical situation and she knew about it, then she should have known better as well as her family. It sounds like she had absolutely no business riding TOT or any other thrill ride for that matter. These incidents are not a fault of DIsney's. They a fault of poor judgement and poor parenting decisions. There is no way I would let my 4 year old ride something like MS. Nor would I let my teen ride TOT if she had such an illness.

 

[Feralpeg]

The local news is reporting that she was feeling ill before they arrived at the park.

 

[luvmsunshine]

Does anyone know if the ride has been re-opened? We were planning on doing MGM tomorrow, but if the ride is going to be closed tomorrow, might have to rearrange some plans.

 

[Feralpeg]

Does anyone know if the ride has been re-opened? We were planning on doing MGM tomorrow, but if the ride is going to be closed tomorrow, might have to rearrange some plans.

They said on the news tonight that the ride has been turned back over to Disney. No evidence was found of foul play or ride malfunction.

I would imagine it will be open tomorrow.

 

[GurGie]

These rides have warnings .... large ones ... in many languages ... the bottom line message being ... if you are not in good health don't ride the ride.

Two years ago I rode Mission Space with my sister and my teen cousin. I was 38, my sister 35 and cousin was 15. My sister is in great shape as was my cousin. When we came off the ride it took us 3 hours to feel well again. The ride has warnings and placards posted EVERYWHERE!!! I'm guessing the 4 yo died of fright ... heart attack ... there is no way in the world i would let a 4 yo old on that ride even if he was tall enough ... i didn't let my DD on and she was 7.

There needs to be some use of common sense folks ... being on vacation doesn't give you license to put yourself in a situation that goes against your better judgement.

JMO

 

[Jabba1]

Mission Space perhaps, but really don't see how POTC could kill some-one, unless they just happened to fall in and drown.

 

[greattenchi]

just heard on radio on 1 am news report! the girl is doing better! she alive!

 

[Esmerelda]

The poster above me here is correct. I just heard on the news (its 0142 here) that she was in surgery (obviously neuro). I don't get the impression that she is deceased but I'm sure very critical.

I feel for these folks that go to Disney and don't heed the warning signs. I personally would not let my 4 year old on the MS ride. I have ridden it myself and know its pretty intense. While I did not get ill or anything (no one in our party of 5 did as a matter of fact), it was still intense just like the signs warn you! My son whom is 9 rode it and he won't ride anything but he ended up loving it. I'm guessing this small child had a heart/lung issue before he ever stepped on the ride that was unknown to the parent.

While my heart goes out to both of these families...they still had a choice to be on both of these attractions. There are warning signs on all of the rides at all of the parks I've ever gone too. I'm in my 40's and can ride things better than my 10 and 14 yr old can...I must have a stomach of steel..lol
I would hope that this girls family did not know of an aneurysm before she got onto the ToT...that would not be a good combination.

I say..just use good ole common sense...and after 17 years in an ER...you'd be shocked at the folks who have no clue what that is.

Esmerelda

 

[rhodisney]

I must say with these two deaths recently it makes me just want to be cautious the next time I go on any ride, be it at Disney, the State fair or Six Flags. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm almost 50 and my body cannot and probably should not do all the daredevil things (like riding a rollercoaster 12 times in a row) that I used to do. I think some people get caught up in the whole Disney park experiance thing. I know I used to. I figured if I spent $60 a day on a ticket, then by golly I was going to ride anything and everything, regardless of my health, the weather, or if I was tired or hungry..because I couldn't miss anything!!! I think I may use better judgement with myself and my kids. I have learned over the years not to be one of those parents that MAKE their kids get on a ride that they are obviously afraid of insisting that they will LOVE it anyways! O.K.-- I'm done ranting now. My best wishes to this young girl and her family that are now spending their vacation at the hospital.

 

[GOOFYFREEK]

You have to remember on avg there are close to 75,000 ppl on Disney Property everyday. Things like this are bound to happen. And like another poster said if its Disney you and the media perks up. If its the county fair in nowhereland and something happens do you hear about it?

 

[beattyfamily]

I think the last 2 incidents are people with a pre-existing conditions that might have been aggravated by the rides...

I think many things happen at Disney that can happen anywhere. My DH and I was talking about it all in bed last night and he said that he wondered how many babies have been delivered at Disney!!

How many heart attcks happen just walking down Main Street or going to your car?

Bad things happen everyday and everywhere but when it happens at Disney, it's on the news and made a big deal, when it was actually probably the poor souls time and not because of a ride. You could be scared from a movie, a balloon popping, people have died from a heart attack driving in their cars.

When it's your time, it's your time, IMHO and it's NOT always the fault of someone else.

I think Disney's been getting a bad rap lately about their rides, IMHO, it's not the rides' fault.

I'm SO glad this girl appears to be doing better. If it wasn't the fault of the ride at all and she was already feeling ill, I hope she does an interview and states this.

fyi...The woman that died on POTC was 77 and in very poor health.

 

[jarestel]

When it's your time, it's your time, IMHO.

That's a very philosophical thing to say as long as it's not your child whose time has come. I suspect it would be more difficult to be so zen about death once it becomes personal.

I think Disney's been getting a bad rap lately.

I don't think reporting these events translates to a bad rap. I've not read anything that alleges Disney was at fault in any of these instances. WDW is probably the #1 family vacation destination in the country, so it's understandable it would be of interest to a much broader audience when something out of the ordinary occurs there.

We all have a dog in this race ( we like to go to WDW and ride the rides ) so it makes sense we would tend to be more defensive about the reporting of bad news at WDW than other segments of the population might. After all, when our neighbors, who don't go to WDW very often, question us about allowing our children to go on these rides, the first instinct is to jump in and point fingers at everyone and everything except for Disney in order to justify our own decisions.

Regardless, I would rather let Disney handle their own PR, and for my part, I won't bother to speculate on the health of guests or the common sense of guests or anything else that requires me to form opinions without any facts about people I don't know.

Thoughts and prayers to the young lady and her family.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

That's a very philosophical thing to say as long as it's not your child whose time has come. I suspect it would be more difficult to be so zen about death once it becomes personal.

I agree. I don't have kids but if it was my hubby, I wouldn't think, "Oh well, it was his time."

 

[bicker]

It is very difficult to look at a loved one in such a detached manner -- indeed, it is perhaps the very antithesis of being a "loved" one. Furthermore, it is human nature, I suppose, to try to find fault or blame, and some folks would have a very hard time accepting that bad things can happen without there being fault or blame.

 

[Lizzybee]

I live near Six Flags Great America just outside of Chicago and there's a brand new water park there, included in the price of admission. We have passes and I've taken the kids several times. One evening we went and the wave pool was closed. Then in the news we see "Man Dies in Wave Pool at Six Flags". Then as you read on in the article, the man had a heart attack in the wave pool, life guards got him out and performed CPR til the paramedics got there and he LATER died at the hospital. The way the media served up the headline made it sound like the guy was floating around in the pool dead, but their own article contradicts their headline. I think the media hype surrounding these incidents is just that. People do die and it's tragic and it's horrible and it's heartbreaking but unless they get thrown out of a ride or the ride does something directly to injure them, it's not Disney or Six Flags' fault. Two people have recently died on carnival rides in northern Illinois. It probably didn't make national news but it probably was the ride that killed them since they were ejected from the rides while they were in motion. If the seat belts malfunctioned then it IS the carnival's fault more than likley. It's not as big news as these other incidents because it didn't happen at a major corporation's theme park. I guess what I'm saying is that as consumers of news, we have to look at it for what it is.

 

[beattyfamily]

That's a very philosophical thing to say as long as it's not your child whose time has come. I suspect it would be more difficult to be so zen about death once it becomes personal.

I don't think reporting these events translates to a bad rap. I've not read anything that alleges Disney was at fault in any of these instances. WDW is probably the #1 family vacation destination in the country, so it's understandable it would be of interest to a much broader audience when something out of the ordinary occurs there.

We all have a dog in this race ( we like to go to WDW and ride the rides ) so it makes sense we would tend to be more defensive about the reporting of bad news at WDW than other segments of the population might. After all, when our neighbors, who don't go to WDW very often, question us about allowing our children to go on these rides, the first instinct is to jump in and point fingers at everyone and everything except for Disney in order to justify our own decisions.

Regardless, I would rather let Disney handle their own PR, and for my part, I won't bother to speculate on the health of guests or the common sense of guests or anything else that requires me to form opinions without any facts about people I don't know.

Thoughts and prayers to the young lady and her family.

Believe whatever you want to as will I. I was giving my opinion on the situation.

All I was trying to say was that bad things happen everyday, everywhere and it doesn't necessarily mean its the fault of Disney that someone (with a pre-existing condition) falls ill, or unfortunately, dies in their park.

I didn't form any opinion or speculate on the health of guests or the common sense of guests...

Why oh why must every thread lately become a debate?

 

[beattyfamily]

I agree. I don't have kids but if it was my hubby, I wouldn't think, "Oh well, it was his time."

Oh well, that's your right. And that wasn't exactly what I said.

 

[lillygator]

Why oh why must every thread lately become a debate?

It does seem this way - but only because everyone is an individual and has their own thoughts and opinions on every topic....we all need to remember (myself included) that we are all right in our own respect.


I do agree that when it is your time, it is your time...certainly not that I would be happy with that at all. I think we should all live each day to the fullest for you never know when that time may be.......

 

[beattyfamily]

I do agree that when it is your time, it is your time...certainly not that I would be happy with that at all. I think we should all live each day to the fullest for you never know when that time may be.......

I totally agree with your last sentence...that is why we treat every Disney trip like it is the first, trip of a lifetime, no matter how many times we go!

 

[katallo]

I am very sorry for the girl and her family. Thoughts and prayers are with them,

This story was the tag for our local news at 11pm and they showed footage from a copter flying over MGM with the quick line, "Another death at Walt Disney World as a young girl suffers a heart attack after getting a ride!" With the usual doom filled voiceover tone and flashy graphic. All I could think was, "Here we go again." I hope that as many people have expressed already that this incident can be put in the right context and not be seen as "the dangers of DISNEY!".


I hope so too! WBAL radio in Baltimore basically said the same thing. Teen girl's heart stops while on Tower of Terror in WDW and then described the ride as a 13 story drop.