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Six Flags rollercoaster finally shut down after two people die and others need emergency brain surgery
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A Six Flags roller coaster linked to two deaths and multiple serious injuries over the past 24 years has finally been shut down.
Officials at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, closed the X2 roller coaster on July 12 following the latest incident, according to CNN.
The closure came after Hawaii resident Pamela Guillen, 40, and Los Angeles resident Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, both required emergency brain surgery after riding the attraction in July.
Greer-Wilkinson remains in a coma on a ventilator.
"The ride remains closed at this time," a Six Flags spokesperson said.
Two women suffered horrific injuries days apart
Guillen visited Magic Mountain on July 5 while celebrating her daughter’s 16th birthday and agreed to ride X2 with her.
The extreme coaster features seats that rotate 360 degrees while trains reach speeds of nearly 80 mph.
According to ambulance records, Guillen repeatedly hit her head against the headrest during the ride. She then began vomiting after getting out, before losing consciousness on a bench.
"Mommy, please wake up," her daughter, Camille Marquez, remembers telling her. "I kept rubbing her thigh and kept shaking her to wake up, and she wouldn’t."
Paramedics found Guillen unresponsive, and a CT scan later revealed a severe subdural hematoma and brain compression.
Surgeons removed part of her skull to relieve the pressure on her brain, and she did not fully regain consciousness for around two weeks.
"You go in as yourself, and then when you come back, you’re a medical emergency. Like I still can’t wrap my head around that," Guillen said. "There’s a difference between being jerked around and brain damage."
She has since been relearning how to walk and talk and continues to experience severe headaches and brain fog.
"I’m very lucky to be alive," she said. "I'm taking it a day at a time to not overwhelm myself and to not go into a dark hole of mourning who I was and what I was able to do before this."
Six days later, Greer-Wilkinson rode X2 with her twin brother and younger sister.
She also lost consciousness after riding and was rushed to the hospital for emergency brain surgery.
Her parents said doctors told them their daughter had suffered a severe traumatic brain injury and warned them to prepare for the worst.
"Naomi should have never ever in a million years even had the option to get on that ride," her mother, Artemis Greer, said.
Greer-Wilkinson remains in critical condition in a coma, hooked up to a ventilator and feeding tube.
Her father, Joshua Wilkinson, said whoever decided to keep X2 operating following Guillen’s injury has "a lot to answer for," adding: "It’s got to stop."
Three neurosurgeons who treated the women told CNN: "In our professional opinion, the severe brain injuries requiring emergent neurosurgical attention were the result of a traumatic rapid acceleration-deceleration event experienced while on the X2 ride."
X2 has previously been linked to two deaths
The July incidents are the latest in a lengthy history of serious injuries associated with X2.
It has also been revealed that the ride has been linked to more than a dozen reports of serious injuries and hospitalizations over nearly two decades.
In June 2022, 22-year-old recent college graduate Christopher Hawley rode X2 with his brother and cousin.
Per court records, the three repeatedly bashed their heads against their seats while being flipped like "rag dolls".
Hawley complained of feeling lightheaded after getting off, then collapsed and lost consciousness.
Doctors discovered severe bleeding in his brain, and he died less than 10 hours later.
The neurosurgeon who treated him compared his injuries to those associated with "shaken baby syndrome," while the Los Angeles County medical examiner ruled his death was caused by blunt head trauma from "a park ride accident".
An expert retained by Hawley’s family said internal Six Flags records showed at least 70 complaints involving head and neck injuries from X2 riders in the three years before his death.
His parents sued Six Flags in 2023, with the case later settling for an undisclosed amount, CNN disclosed.
Hawley was the second death linked to the attraction, as in 2010, 28-year-old Hilda Farias died after riding X2.
Medical experts suspected an existing brain abnormality had ruptured because of the intensity of the ride.
Her family later settled a lawsuit for an undisclosed amount. "We have no further comments," a Six Flags representative told The New York Post when asked about the deaths of Hawley and Farias.
Other riders reported serious brain injuries
Other X2 riders have also reported traumatic brain injuries over the years.
In 2014, 17-year-old Selena O’Neill suffered a seizure after developing a headache and struggling to see and walk following a ride on X2. Doctors found a life-threatening subdural hematoma that they attributed directly to the ride.
In 2020, Sheila Katerelos, then 50, was hospitalized for five days and diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and multiple subdural hematomas after her head slammed against the headrest.
The following year, 46-year-old Lucy Alvarez was diagnosed with a traumatic subdural hematoma after riding X2. Her attorney said she continues to struggle with memory loss, balance problems, and chronic migraines.
Six Flags has argued in court that riders assume certain risks and that X2 meets approved safety standards.
After Hawley’s death in 2022, state officials ordered the attraction closed for an inspection but allowed it to reopen within days.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health declined to explain how X2 had been considered safe to reopen following previous incidents, saying an inspection remains ongoing.
University of Florida professor Brian Avery, who specializes in ride safety and risk management, said repeated traumatic brain injuries associated with the same attraction "constitute a clear safety signal" and should prompt a comprehensive review.
The families of Guillen and Greer-Wilkinson, meanwhile, said Six Flags representatives initially offered them food, including McDonald’s, but have not contacted them since.