16 Year Old Girl Nearly Dies at Disney World


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Heart Attack At Disney World

ORLANDO, Fla., July 13, 2005

On the Tower of Terror, riders are placed in an elevator which shoots up 13 stories and then plummets back twice.

(AP) A 16-year-old British girl suffered cardiac arrest after stepping off a Disney World thrill ride, one month after a young boy died after going on another attraction.

Leanne Deacon of Kibworth, Leicestershire, felt strange but told her mother she'd quickly recover after exiting Disney World-MGM Studios' "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror," which depicts a haunted plunging elevator ride, said Jim Solomons, an Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesman, on Tuesday. However, Solomons said the girl's condition deteriorated so rapidly that her heart stopped beating and she had to be resuscitated by emergency workers.

Leanne is in critical condition and was transferred Tuesday night from Florida Hospital Celebration Health to the facility's main campus at Florida Hospital Orlando, about 20 miles away, according to hospital spokesman David Oakley.

Solomons said the teenager was seen by a neurosurgeon to determine what caused her injuries. Solomons said no other passengers have complained of injuries, and "we're satisfied that everything seemed to function OK on the ride."

Disney said in a written statement that the ride has been shut down until more information is available.

"Our concern is for the family and we are working with them to provide whatever assistance they need," the statement said.

Disney officials declined further comment.

On the Tower of Terror, which depicts a haunted hotel, riders are placed in an elevator, which shoots up 13 stories and then plummets back twice.

Two people have died at Disney World this year. A 4-year-old Pennsylvania boy, Daudi Bamuwamye, died June 13 after riding Epcot's "Mission: Space" and a 77-year-old Minnesota woman, Gloria Land, died in February after riding the Magic Kingdom's "Pirates of the Caribbean."

A medical examiner's report said Land was in poor health from diabetes and several ministrokes and her death "was not unexpected." The cause of the boy's death remains under investigation.

Florida's major theme parks are not directly regulated by the state, and instead have their own inspectors.

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I might have ride mission:space before at epcot, that wasn't very scary, but I don't ride any of the rollercoasters.

I don't like to be upside down.

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DO NOT go to ANY rides if you have ANY health problems PERIOD. :(

I think every amusement parts should put out a sign WARNING people with health problems. :yes:

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It's not first time someone has had an accident on a ride before.

Who'd blaim Disney? I wouldn't I'd say what perochan said, If you've had a history in health problems don't go on a ride of such velocity.. Hardly a wise thing to do.

It's not a bad death rate (know that sounds bad) considering the amount of visitors per year. 2 people have died.. I'm sorry but I just think it's to do with the person more than the ride.

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DO NOT go to ANY rides if you have ANY health problems PERIOD.  :(

I think every amusement parts should put out a sign WARNING people with health problems.  :yes:

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I don't know if you have ever gone to Disney World but all the rides have a warning

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DO NOT go to ANY rides if you have ANY health problems PERIOD.  :(

I think every amusement parts should put out a sign WARNING people with health problems.  :yes:

586209002[/snapback]

Yup, I agree, just like they need a warning sign for life... Are those kinds of people just not intelligent enought to judge situations properly?

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DO NOT go to ANY rides if you have ANY health problems PERIOD.  :(

I think every amusement parts should put out a sign WARNING people with health problems.  :yes:

586209002[/snapback]

I agree with the first point, but since when do people use common sense?

As for the signs, they do have them. They are all over the place, kind of overdone too.

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Teh....That's why I like Six Flags Great America waaaay more...lol no one gets hurt on any rides....Well except for that girl on the Raging Bull. She choked to death because she had gum in her mouth. She deserves it for not following the rules. :crazy:

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They don't need signs, but I think they need to Spoil some people what the entire ride is like...

Like a video or something showing the entire ride, so riders can judge if they can handle it or not.

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Been on tower of terror at disneyland manytimes.... I fail to see how it could cause someone to go into cardiac arrest

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Thats a stupid thing to say. Terror can trigger different thing in different people, and in this girl it triggered a heart attack.

The beating the heart does on these rides isn't normal for some people.

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Can hardly blame it on Disney World but no doubt many idiots will.

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Thats the American way!!!

I went on that ride last year and it was fun as hell. A lot better than Dropzone.

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i never being there, but people who went told me that you get warned about the ride being dangerous many many times before the ride, in writing and in verbal forms.

a sick 77-year-old woman was asking for it anyway - why on earth would she go there with health problems..

as 4-year-old boy - he is way to young to go there. i blame the parents, how a 4 year old can appreciate all the crazy rides which even adults can be scared off? id say wait till around 8, when the kids are mature enough physically and can behave themselfs

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Millions of people must go through Disney world/land/whatever every year. It almost impossible for them not to get some people have accidents get sick, have heart attacks or die every now and then. The girl might have had a weak heart, or a condition she didn't know about or might have been just plain easy to scare and overwhelm. She could have had a car almost hit her in the car park on the way in and have the same heart attack. It's sad but that's life. If they put up signs and videos and guides to hold peoples hands it would make no difference.

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Well I can see how she nearly died. That ride is just bloody scary. Right before the drop, the damn announcer goes: "Ladies and gentlemen, what you're about to experience right now happened back in 1912 (or something like that), then everything goes quiet for 3 seconds before the damn thing shoots downwards, then up, then down... and all this in *pitch blackness*. Unlike rides like the Drop Zone (in Canada's Wonderland) and any similar rides, you're exposed to open air. For this ride, you aren't.

I would like to see how the photograph came out (once the elevator's at the top of the tower a photograph is taken).

On topic: she just got unlucky, or she was ignorant of her health conditions. You can't blame anyone for this.

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Yup, I agree, just like they need a warning sign for life...  Are those kinds of people just not intelligent enought to judge situations properly?

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im with u as well

but as mentioned in the post before you all rides that have a risk of health problems are not to be rode on.

I remeber when i went on tower of terror bout 5-6 years ago there is a huge sign before the line up and before the ride that specifically reads if you have any of the following health problems conditions you shouldnt ride and that it is not their fault.

like wise for many of their other rides.

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Yeah, she probably did get unlucky, but i know my limitations, and I woudln't go on any of those rides because I'm scared to death of them.

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That ride was awesome when I went back there a few years ago. I'm sorry for the girl and the family but really, if you have health problems, you shouldnt have went.

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I might have ride mission:space before at epcot, that wasn't very scary, but I don't ride any of the rollercoasters.

I don't like to be upside down.

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The rollercoaster next to Tower of Terror in MGM is actually very smooth, you hardly notice going upside down twice. It was my first rollercoaster and the others in the area (Universal Islands of Adventure) aren't nearly as good in my opinion. I'm very prone to motion sickness so I always avoided things like that in the past...

That said, Tower of Terror is a pretty intense ride but there are more than enough warning signs to tell you this... I can't ride it more than once in a day but just turning around in an office chair a few times can make me just as sick.

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