More than a hundred people claim to have suffered brain injuries after riding the X2, one of the most emblematic roller coasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain park, in California, over the past two years, and it has been closed since July 12.
The new claims come after a CNN investigation published in August linked the attraction to serious brain injuries over the years. And this Tuesday, lawyer Christopher Bulone announced the filing of three lawsuits against the company, as reported by the mentioned media outlet. "Six Flags has been deliberately playing with people's lives. An attraction like that should not be allowed to exist," he stated.
Two of the lawsuits refer to the women featured in the network's investigation who suffered serious brain injuries after riding the X2 this summer. Pamela Guillen, 40, lost consciousness after riding the attraction and remained in a coma for two weeks, while Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, remains in a coma after suffering a serious brain injury. According to a CNN investigation, the doctors who treated both linked the injuries to the strong accelerations and decelerations of the ride. In the third lawsuit, Michael Wilk claims to have suffered a massive brain hemorrhage that required multiple brain surgeries after riding the controversial roller coaster in February.
The lawyers state that following the CNN publication, they now represent over 100 people attributing brain injuries of varying severity to the roller coaster over the past two years.
The X2 is one of the most extreme attractions in the park. Its seats rotate 360 degrees independently while the train reaches speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour and faces a drop of about 65 meters. CNN has compiled medical and court documents linking the roller coaster, opened in 2002, to more than a dozen serious injuries over the years.
The history includes cases like that of Selena O'Neil, who suffered a subdural hematoma in 2014 after using the attraction, and that of a 22-year-old who died in 2022 after suffering a severe head injury. In addition, internal park documents revealed at least 70 complaints of head and neck injuries in the three years leading up to that fatality, according to the network's investigation.
Six Flags park has defended the safety of the X2 and maintains that the attraction undergoes regular checks. In court, their lawyers have argued that there are "inherent risks in participating in or in any attraction" and that passengers who follow safety instructions should not suffer injuries of this kind. However, the roller coaster has been closed since July 12, with park officials not explaining the reasons.