Man injured on Dragon Challenge.

Rowdy

Rowdy

Member
Original Poster
A man riding a popular roller coaster is recovering from an eye injury that resulted in the ride being shut down.

Carlos Montalvo rode the Dragon Challenge at Universal's Islands of Adventure and says when it was over, his eye and face were bloody.

Montalvo told WESH 2 News by phone from his hospital bed at Orlando Regional Medical center that he has permanently lost vision in his right eye, the eye that was injured Sunday.

Montalvo was on the ride with his wife Sunday. They were vacationing from Puerto Rico.

Montalvo said something hit him in the face as the coaster moved along, and he was in pain and bloodied.

Universal said it is doing everything it can to assist the Montalvos.

"We spent hours after the incident thoroughly inspecting and re-inspecting the ride, the ride vehicles, the tracks and the area underneath the tracks. We found absolutely nothing that could have contributed to this incident," said Universal spokesman Tom Schroder.

Schroder said Universal believes the dual coasters are safe. They re-opened Monday afternoon.

Montalvo will likely remain in the hospital another night.

His local attorney, Clay Mitchell of Morgan and Morgan, will be speaking with Montalvo Wednesday.
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http://www.wesh.com/news/28743526/detail.html


Hope he recovers well. I wonder how much this one will cost Universal.
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
It will be interesting to find out what actually hit him. If it was something from a guest US will still be on the hook for some coin but at least their reputation will remain somewhat intact. If it turns out to be a piece of the attraction that hit him they will be attached to another object by an incline plane, wrapped helicly around an axis.
 
SteveUK

SteveUK

Member
Whatever it is, I hope they find it and fix it before I want to ride in six weeks!

And of course, I hope the passenger recovers well.
 
Nemo14

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
Master Yoda said:
It will be interesting to find out what actually hit him. If it was something from a guest US will still be on the hook for some coin but at least their reputation will remain somewhat intact. If it turns out to be a piece of the attraction that hit him they will be attached to another object by an incline plane, wrapped helicly around an axis.
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Well put! :ROFLOL:
 
SleepingMonk

SleepingMonk

Well-Known Member
The ride reopened already, and I doubt the security cams will have the resolution needed to view a very small object in motion at that speed.

It could have been any number of things, unless he has some material from the foreign body left in his eye for the doctor to recover chances are we'll never know what it was.
 
J

JT3000

Well-Known Member
Tim_4 said:
Sounds like we'll be seeing a lawsuit against a theme park that's not utterly frivolous for once.
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Yes, because we can totally jump to conclusions and assume this was entirely Universal's fault.

Or not.

It was probably a bird. The Hulk hit two last week. In the same day. Supposedly sliced one of them in half.
 
tizzo

tizzo

Member
Master Yoda said:
It will be interesting to find out what actually hit him. If it was something from a guest US will still be on the hook for some coin but at least their reputation will remain somewhat intact. If it turns out to be a piece of the attraction that hit him they will be attached to another object by an incline plane, wrapped helicly around an axis.
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I'm not sure they're ever going to know what hit him. Other reporting I saw about this had the victim saying that he was struck right at the point where the two cars pass near each other. That supports the idea that it involved another guest.

This is really a shame. Also according to other reporting I've seen, this guy already had a bad eye, and this injury occurred to his good eye. If it was caused by a guest on the other train, I fervently hope (but doubt) that there is security footage that will allow that person to be identified.
 
JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
Master Yoda said:
It will be interesting to find out what actually hit him. If it was something from a guest US will still be on the hook for some coin but at least their reputation will remain somewhat intact. If it turns out to be a piece of the attraction that hit him they will be attached to another object by an incline plane, wrapped helicly around an axis.
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Nice Richard. Very impressive.
 
JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
Master Yoda said:
It will be interesting to find out what actually hit him. If it was something from a guest US will still be on the hook for some coin but at least their reputation will remain somewhat intact. If it turns out to be a piece of the attraction that hit him they will be attached to another object by an incline plane, wrapped helicly around an axis.
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Nice what you did there, Richard. Very impressive.
 
NowInc

NowInc

Well-Known Member
These has been a second injury in less than 2 weeks at the same section of the ride, which makes it more and more likely of a non "natural" force is behind them. The dragons have not been "dueling" for a few days now, instead leaving at different times, which adds to the speculation that the injuries were caused by someone on the other coaster throwing, or shooting, an object at the counter coaster.

http://screamscape.com/html/islands_of_adventure.htm#General
 
Chevross

Chevross

Active Member
Is it possible that the force at which one goes through that section of the track could loosen a pebble stuck within the grooves of the bottom of ones shoe?
 
NowInc

NowInc

Well-Known Member
It is, but the object was described as larger and "blunt"...so I think that rules out something as small as a pebble.
 
Chevross

Chevross

Active Member
NowInc said:
It is, but the object was described as larger and "blunt"...so I think that rules out something as small as a pebble.
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It doesn't necessarily have to be a pebble. I've had sticks, dried pieces of gum, and even a penny stuck or lodged on the bottom of my shoe (not all on the same type of shoe of course) a few times.
 
Bravo 229

Bravo 229

Member
NowInc said:
These has been a second injury in less than 2 weeks at the same section of the ride, which makes it more and more likely of a non "natural" force is behind them. The dragons have not been "dueling" for a few days now, instead leaving at different times, which adds to the speculation that the injuries were caused by someone on the other coaster throwing, or shooting, an object at the counter coaster.

http://screamscape.com/html/islands_of_adventure.htm#General
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I was at the park on Saturday and there was definitely no "dueling." I rode the Fire dragon and we sat there for almost a minute after Ice dragon was dispatched before we were sent on our way. I had never seen the cars sent that far apart before, and I was puzzled as to why the other car didn't stop until we reached the lift as usual. This would probably be why!
 

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