Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, remains on a ventilator more than two months after collapsing following a ride on the X2 rollercoaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in southern California. She required emergency surgery for a brain bleed after the incident in July.
Second rider collapsed days earlier
Six days before Naomi rode X2, another woman, Hawaii resident Pamela Guillen, reportedly also collapsed after riding it and underwent emergency brain surgery. Pamela was still in hospital when Naomi boarded the coaster.
Pamela had visited the theme park on July 5 to celebrate her daughter Camille’s 16th birthday. She said she became confused and disoriented after getting off the coaster, then lost consciousness, according to the Daily Mail.
“I remember seeing the fear in my daughter’s eyes and how scared she was,” Pamela said. When she woke in hospital, she learned that surgeons had operated to stop bleeding on her brain.
Camille recalled trying to speak to her mother after they left the ride: “She looked lifeless. Not a thought behind her eyes, nothing.” Pamela spent almost a month in hospital.
Naomi’s family told to prepare for end of life
X2 continued operating after Pamela’s injury, and on July 11 Naomi visited the park with her siblings and friends. She also collapsed after getting off the coaster and was taken to the same hospital where Pamela was being treated. Surgeons operated on Naomi for a brain injury.
“When we got there, they told us to prepare for end of life,” her mother, Artemis Greer, said. She and Naomi’s father, Joshua Wilkinson, have spent the following two months by their daughter’s side.
“She is in a respiratory hospital trying to get off a ventilator,” Artemis told CBS Los Angeles.
Doctors who treated the women told CNN that they believed both injuries resulted from rapid acceleration and deceleration experienced on X2.
Lawsuits and ride status
Both Pamela and Naomi’s parents have reportedly filed lawsuits alleging that the ride caused the women’s injuries. A third rider, Michael Wilk, is also suing Six Flags, saying he suffered a severe brain bleed after riding X2.
Lawyers representing the three parties say more than 100 other people have come forward alleging brain injuries connected to the coaster. The lawyers claim that X2 had design and safety problems, and that passengers weren’t adequately warned about previous injuries. Those allegations have not been established in court.
X2’s seats rotate independently of the track, turning riders forwards and backwards as the coaster reaches speeds of up to 76mph. Its drops are up to 200ft high.
In previous court filings, Six Flags said X2 underwent daily inspections and maintained that someone using the ride as instructed should not suffer a traumatic brain injury. The company has declined to comment on the pending lawsuits. It has also not publicly explained why X2 is currently not operating.
A Six Flags spokesperson told Metro: “The ride remains closed at this time. It has been closed since the evening of July 12. It is our policy not to comment on pending litigation.”
