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A woman has been on a ventilator for two months after riding the X2 roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California.
Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, suffered a severe traumatic brain injury after collapsing while riding the rollercoaster in July.
Her father, Joshua Wilkinson, disclosed to CNN that the jarring on the ride 'had damaged part of her brain, and it had begun to bleed'.
Her condition was so serious that doctors performed emergency surgery and placed her in an induced coma to aid her recovery. Two months later, she is still on a ventilator.
"I do remember one of the surgeons storming through the ER and yelling: 'How many is it this month? They've got to shut that ride down!' He was furious," Her mother, Artemis Greer, said.
"Naomi should have never, ever in a million years, even had the option to get on that ride. It's absolutely insane," she added.
X2, which is currently closed, reaches speeds of 76 mph and features a 200-foot drop, several half-loops, and seats that rotate 360 degrees as passengers move around the track.
Naomi is not the only rider to have experienced a devastating medical emergency after riding it.
Just six days before the 25-year-old was hospitalized, 40-year-old Pamela Guillen had visited the amusement park with her daughter for her 16th birthday.
Guillen rode X2 and hit her head against the headrest repeatedly as the ride jolted and rotated. By the time it ended, she needed help getting off and began vomiting.
She was then rushed to the same hospital where Naomi would be treated less than a week later.
Doctors found out that the mom had also suffered a brain hemorrhage, and she underwent emergency surgery.
The medical professionals who treated both women later issued a statement about their injuries in an email shared with 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," the email read.
Over the past two decades, the X2 ride has been linked to more than a dozen reports of injuries and hospitalizations.
In 2022, 22-year-old Christopher Hawley tragically died after suffering severe brain trauma.
His father, William Hawley, revealed to Fox News that a surgeon said the X2 hit his son's head "so hard that it had basically ruptured his brain".
His family sued Six Flags for failure to warn, negligence, and design defects.
Last month, they reached a settlement with Magic Mountain LLC and an accord with S&S. The terms were not made public.
"This is not the first time someone has sustained a serious injury as a result of riding X2. X2 has been linked to previous incidents, where people received whiplash, head and leg injuries, and more, from the ride's sudden shuddering and jolts," Ari Friedman, an attorney who represented Hawley’s family, said.
Michael Wilk, an attorney who rode X2 in February, also filed a lawsuit against the park, alleging that he experienced massive brain bleeding that required multiple brain surgeries.
Wilk said his injuries were so severe that he could no longer practice law, as he battles headaches, memory loss, and brain fog.
"My brain has difficulty processing the words, and so unless it’s extraordinarily clear and loud, my brain gets the word wrong. I think I miss about half the conversations I’m in," he said, per CNN. "I truly hope that by coming forward, changes will be made."
Six Flags has not responded to the allegations yet; however, the park’s lawyers have defended X2 in court.
They have contended that there is a sign that warns riders that "there are inherent risks in the participation in or on any amusement ride or attraction."
They have also said the ride is frequently tested and that the physical forces riders experience are not powerful enough to cause a traumatic brain injury for a "normal" rider using it "as instructed".
The roller coaster has remained closed since July 12
