Death at Disney-Rockn' Rollercoaster

[nitroblast]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/29/coaster.death/index.html

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A 12-year-old boy was pronounced dead after he rode a roller coaster at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Michael Russell, of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was riding the Rock'n Roller Coaster ride with his 7-year-old brother, mom and dad, Sgt. Carlos Torres said. After the ride stopped, Russell and his family were stepping out of the roller coaster car when he collapsed, Torres said.

Russell's father began administering CPR and was later aided by a Disney assistant, but the boy was not responsive. Russell was then transported by ambulance to Celebration Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Officials will perform an autopsy, and results could be released as early as Friday. (Watch the details of what happened after the roller coaster stopped -- 2:39)

A Disney representative was with the family Thursday afternoon and Disney officials were offering the boy's family their "deepest sympathies," according to a statement.

The incident happened at 11:30 a.m.

Disney shut down the ride and a state inspector arrived to observe the Disney investigation. The Orange County Sheriff's Office is conducting an investigation as well.

Disney boasts of the ride on its Web site, "Zoom from 0 to 60 mph with the force of a supersonic F-14, take in high-speed loops and turns synchronized to a specially recorded Aerosmith soundtrack and zip through Tinseltown in the biggest, loudest limo you've ever seen."

It adds: "The 3,400-foot-long track is more than a half mile of sudden accelerations, dips, loops and twists and turns."

Children shorter than 4 feet are not permitted on the ride, according to the Web site.

The last death at a Disney resort was April 12, when 49-year-old Hiltrud Bluemel of Germany suffered a stroke linked to her high blood pressure after riding "Mission: Space" at the Epcot Center in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Five months before that, a 4-year-old boy died from an unknown heart condition on the same ride.

[OrlandoRocks]

It's a shame that Disney can't catch a break with all the bad news lately.

[WadeJ]

Well, as horrible as this is, the ride is safe.  It opened the following morning.  After 36.6 million riders, I think everyone basically assumed this was a unfortunate medical condition that this boy had.  After reading this as a parent though, I must admit that it scares me when i think about the fact that we do all the right things as parents with exams, physicals, etc. and something as HUGE as this could be missed.  They need better detection methods.  This boy didn't have to die.  Unfortunately, I think he would have died anyway shortly after while doing something else since they didn't have any idea the condition existed.

Here is the full report from the Orlando Sentinal:

Autopsy: Boy had heart defects
The medical examiner finds no injuries to the 12-year-old who died after riding a Disney coaster.

Scott Powers | Henry Pierson Curtis and Lynn Thomasson, Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted July 1, 2006

A Kentucky boy who died after riding Walt Disney World's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster had heart defects, a preliminary autopsy released Friday showed.

Dr. Sara H. Irrgang, associate medical examiner for Orange and Osceola counties, also found no evidence of injuries. Her findings do not necessarily mean that 12-year-old Michael Russell died because of congenital heart abnormalities. Irrgang will look further and issue a final report.

Disney safety officials, accompanied by a state ride inspector, examined the indoor coaster at Disney-MGM Studios on Thursday night and concluded it was safe. The ride reopened at 8 a.m. Friday.

Michael, who was vacationing with his family from Fort Campbell, Ky., boarded the short ride with his mother, father and younger brother late Thursday morning but was found limp as the ride finished. His father, Byron Russell, an Army Green Beret, immediately began CPR. Paramedics who arrived six minutes later took over and shocked Michael with a defibrillator. But the boy never revived and was pronounced dead at Celebration Hospital.

Michael's parents told Orange County deputies Thursday that he had annual physicals and was in good physical health.

His death is the seventh in 18 months involving people stricken at Walt Disney World attractions. In at least four of the other cases, autopsies blamed cardiovascular problems, including the most recent, Hiltrud Blumel, a 49-year-old German woman who died after riding Mission: Space on April 11 at Epcot.

The Medical Examiner's Office also released a final autopsy report Friday on Blumel's death, saying she died of a stroke caused by high blood pressure.

Regarding Michael's autopsy, the Medical Examiner's Office offered no details about what sorts of abnormalities were discovered, how serious they could have been or whether they might have been difficult to detect in routine physicals. Congenital heart abnormalities involve structural problems with the heart that are present at birth.

Leading U.S. birth defect

The Children's Heart Foundation, which raises money to advance the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of congenital heart defects, says that they are America's No. 1 birth defect, affecting nearly one out of every 100 births.

Not all are normally fatal. But Dr. Thomas Carson, an Orlando pediatric cardiologist specializing in congenital cardiology, said there are a number of defects that can go undetected in early life and cause death.

"A lot of these can slip by" routine medical exams, Carson said.

The most common cause of sudden death in children and young adults is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a group of heart conditions that can cause an abnormal thickening of the heart muscle. It can be detected through routine exams but can have a very subtle-sounding murmur that can be missed without an echocardiogram. He said as many as one in 50,000 people has the condition.

"A lot of them die," Carson said. "It's the most common sudden death in young adults."

If such a condition is detected, medicines can significantly decrease the risk, he said.

Stress or excitement can cause what Carson called "events" among people with such conditions.

"A roller-coaster ride obviously can be pretty exciting. It can also be a loud noise, jumping into cold water," he said. "It can be a number of common events as well."

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is famous for its exciting start, which propels the limousine-styled trains from 0 to 57 mph in 2.8 seconds. The ride, which lasts one minute and 22 seconds, also includes a rollover and a corkscrew.

On a Web site and in an early news release, Disney indicated that the ride creates forces up to five times that of gravity, but Friday Disney said the correct maximum force is 4.2 G's. Spokesman Jacob DiPietre said that figure came from a test by the American Standards for Testing and Materials, now known as ASTM International.

"During two periods that are approximately one second each, the vertical acceleration ranges between 3 and 4.2 G's. Vertical accelerations are lower throughout the remainder of the ride," DiPietre said, citing the organization's report. "All the G-forces that are experienced during the ride are well within the ASTM standards for amusement rides."

Disney again expressed its sympathy and continued to offer assistance to the Russell family, issuing a statement Friday that read, "Our thoughts and prayers remain with the Russell family in the wake of their son's passing."

Earlier in the day Disney declared Rock 'n' Roller Coaster sound and reopened it after a 20-hour closure.

"Walt Disney World engineers and ride system experts completed a thorough inspection of the attraction overnight and found it to be operating properly. A representative from the state Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection observed the ride inspection and testing," the company said in a written statement.

Riders still line up

Friday morning the ride, which has drawn 36.6 million riders since it opened in 1999, had a 30-minute line, and no signs indicating anything had occurred.

Many visitors at Disney-MGM Studios, such as Catherine Leach of Louisiana, assumed the boy's death was because of some sort of medical condition. But a few, such as Tony Taylor, 16, of Atlanta expressed uncertainties about the ride's safety. And even some who assumed the ride is safe, such as Paul Stambaugh, 71, of Virginia suggested it should have been closed longer.

Felicia Mathis, 40, of Atlanta said she was in shock. "I think they should give it a day or so after the investigation is complete," she said. "It shouldn't be open the day after a child died."

Margaret Wallace, 52, of Scotland was waiting outside as her 18-year-old daughter rode. She considers Disney rides well maintained and safe, and surmised that accidents happen.

"If it was me, I wouldn't want it open," she said. "But there are all these people that came to enjoy it, and it'd be a shame to close it for them."

Scott Powers can be reached at spowers@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5441. Henry Pierson Curtis can be reached at hcurtis@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5257. Lynn Thomasson can be reached at lthomasson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5277

[coastermom]

Wade i have to agree with you  . After all the exams and tests our kids go through every year it is amazing that our childern have these problems and we don't even know it. I always worry about our kids every where we take them and to think of going on vacation and having this horriable experience happen makes you want to hold your childern even more. We are off to WDW and USF in two weeks and are still concerned with mission space . We have all ridden RNR and will ride it again but it still makes you think .

God bless his family and keep them in your prayers.

[WadeJ]

Mission Space is fine

Though obviously we can't guarantee the health and well being of our kids (as noted above), we should all feel safe in knowing that millions have passed through that ride with no problem at all. 

On a business trip I re-rode MS 17 times before finally getting tired of it.  I'd be more concerned if you are the type of person that easily gets sick on rides like that.

In the end, its all about understanding your limits and your childs limits.  IMO, its not worth skipping out on things in life out of fear of the unknown.  Life is short .  With that said, the only exception to this for me would be if myself, my children or somebody with us had a condition that is clearly listed on the ride sign.  Ignoring the warnings is the WRONG thing to do lol

PS- they have two different types of rides now.  The orange team and the green team.  One side doesn't spin and is more like Star Tours, etc.  The other side is the orgiinal attraction.  Perhaps try the lighter one first

[sir clinksalot]

Were going to WDW in October. I have no fears about my kids riding anything.

Fact is they have ridden rides WAY more intense than MS or RnRC.