Six Flags X2 roller coaster shut down after two women suffer brain haemorrhages within six days of each other
Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, lies in a coma on a ventilator and feeding tube following a severe traumatic brain injury sustained on the X2 rollercoaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain.Pamela Guillen, 40, suffered a brain injury on X2 six days before Naomi Greer-Wilkinson's ride, later requiring partial skull removal and spending two weeks in a coma.X2, whose rotating seats and near-vertical drops earned Six Flags' billing as a "rite of passage for the ultimate daredevil," is linked to over a dozen serious injury reports dating back to its opening.Park records reportedly document scores of head and neck injury complaints tied to X2, even as state regulators and park officials kept the ride running despite warnings spanning several years.
Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, is in a coma on a ventilator and feeding tube after she lost consciousness on the X2 roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, in July. Pamela Guillen, 40, repeatedly struck her head on the headrest at close to 80mph and required surgery in which a portion of her skull was taken out to reduce pressure on her brain; she emerged from a two-week coma able to manage only single words. Six Flags closed the ride on 12 July, one day after the second incident, and it has not reopened.
Since X2 opened in 2002, it has reportedly been linked to more than twelve serious injuries and hospitalisations, as well as two deaths.
Greer-Wilkinson's father said whoever decided to keep X2 operating 'has a lot to answer for' and demanded: 'It's got to stop.'
'You go in as yourself and when you come back you are a medical emergency,' Guillen said of the ride, which spins seats 360 degrees at speeds of up to 80mph.
