Mission Space tourist died from bleeding of brain

[napnet]

Didnt see this posted yet... sorry if it already was!! The news link has some interesting graphics associated with it. But it looks like Mission Space wasn't what killed the rider.

A German tourist who collapsed this week after riding the Mission: Space thrill ride at Walt Disney died from bleeding of the brain brought on high blood pressure, according to the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner's Office.

The autopsy of Hiltrud Blümel showed of "severe, long standing high blood pressure," Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia said in a statement released Friday afternoon. There were no signs of trauma, she said.

The official cause and manner of death will not be determined for four to six weeks until results are obtained from tests on the victim's brain, other organs and blood, the doctor said.

Blümel, 49, summoned help at 1:19 p.m. Tuesday, shortly after completing the 4-minute thrill ride that spins up to 160 customers at 2 Gs, twice Earth's gravity, on a mock space flight to Mars, records show.

She died Wednesday at Florida Hospital Celebration Health, according to Disney spokesmen.

Garavaglia's initial findings of "a hypertensive bleed within the brain" confirmed the same diagnosis made by the doctors who treated Blümel.

The death is the second within a year associated with the $100 million ride at Epcot.

Last June, Daudi Bamuwamye, 4, of Sellersville, Pa., died while riding with his mother and sister. An autopsy showed that he suffered from a rare and undiagnosed enlargement of his heart.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...41406,0,7767964.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

 

[dolbyman]

there .. we have it .. the ride was not the fault ... any carousel could have killed her in that condition .. so she had high blood pressure and didn't read the warning signs .. (or couldn't ... but there are german park maps .. that have german warnings for the rides included)

I say .. sad event .. but not Disney's fault

 

[napnet]

I say .. sad event .. but not Disney's fault

I agree, she probably could have died from any event that put high stress on her. This was probably an accident waiting to happen and it just happend on Mission Space. Could have happened on her flight home if they had a bunch of turbulance.

 

[jrobinson424]

I swear I get so tired of hearing this crap from people. THE RIDE DID NOT KILL HER. In all actuality, I think the Tea Cups or The Tilt-da-World is more intense than Mission Space. The ignorance of people commenting on something they know nothing at all about iritates me to death. I would be willing to bet my left testicle that in every park everywhere in the world, someone has died. People die everyday in cars. Does that mean we shut down all cars? HELL NO IT DOESN'T. People who usually die on attractions(unless it's a mechanical failure) almost allways have health problems and I would almost be willing to bet they know they have a problem. This lady had high blood pressure. Unless she lived under a damn rock, she knew she had this problem. I am sure she has been to doctor. It really sucks that anyone dies on a ride(especialy a Disney ride)but it happens. Everyone has a date with death. It's just too bad it had to happen at a place whos number one goal is to make people happy and have the best time of their lives. Unless something mechanical kills, leave the ride running and shut your mouths.

 

[ssidiouss@mac.c]

If I had to pass out and die from natural causes like that.. I would rather be at Disney World than at work/school..

 

[Fantasmic!329]

Still a very sad thing to happen.

 

[Dubman]

On any given day, the attendance at Disney Worlds' parks rival the population of a small city!! In even the smallest city, death is something dealt with on a daily basis. Unfortunately, her time was on her vacation to the happiest place on earth. My heart goes out to her family and friends.. Tragic..

 

[CaptainMichael]

If I had to pass out and die from natural causes like that.. I would rather be at Disney World than at work/school..

Yep, I was saying that the night it happened.

 

[Pongo]

Just a freak coincidence.

I figured so. At least the family knows now. I hope, despite the tragedy, they still had fun in WDW prior to it.

 

[dizneycrazy09]

My heart goes out the family, but it's deffenitely a good thing that M:S was not the cause of death. It's one of my favorite attractions at WDW and I would hate to see any kind of change in the ride to make it less intense. I just hope that this tragic event will make people read and actually consider warning signs before they go on rides.

 

[Disneyfanman]

If I understand, she died the next day. Yes she should have avoided the ride if she had High BP. I think that Disney has a problem here though. People like this avoid roller coasters and "violent" rides. If people don't get motion sick though, they may try something like MS, thinking that they are OK. And it DOES do a number on you. Those G forces are formidable. I love it, but you can feel the pressure placed on your body when you ride it. And if someone has a condition that is on edge, you can sure see it pushing you over the edge. Disney's fault..........no. Facilitated by getting on the ride in the first place.....? Maybe. More likely because of the sheer volume of guests on Disney property.....? Absolutely. Can Disney do anything about it? Probably not, but I guarantee if this stuff continues that they will evenutally close the thing and take their losses. Nobody wants a ride on their property that has developed the reputation of killing people. Even if it's not true.

 

[Pete C]

I swear I get so tired of hearing this crap from people. THE RIDE DID NOT KILL HER. In all actuality, I think the Tea Cups or The Tilt-da-World is more intense than Mission Space. The ignorance of people commenting on something they know nothing at all about iritates me to death. I would be willing to bet my left testicle that in every park everywhere in the world, someone has died. People die everyday in cars. Does that mean we shut down all cars? HELL NO IT DOESN'T. People who usually die on attractions(unless it's a mechanical failure) almost allways have health problems and I would almost be willing to bet they know they have a problem. This lady had high blood pressure. Unless she lived under a damn rock, she knew she had this problem. I am sure she has been to doctor. It really sucks that anyone dies on a ride(especialy a Disney ride)but it happens. Everyone has a date with death. It's just too bad it had to happen at a place whos number one goal is to make people happy and have the best time of their lives. Unless something mechanical kills, leave the ride running and shut your mouths.

For all of you that are celebrating this report, let me say that everyone that was arguing for the ride to be checked out already knew that the ride was probably going to be exonerated. So, this report CHANGES NOTHING about what has been said countless times in other threads about the warnings not being good enough, and the fact that way too many people get sick as hell on this ride.

 

[kcnole]

The only fault I can have with Disney is with the lawyers and them having some fault in this. The lawyers have required signs saying that if you have high blood pressure, pregnant, etc... on every ride in the park, even the most tame ones it seems. I can see how people can see a warning and think nothing of it. Now, mission space has more warnings than any other ride, but I think something needs to be done to make sure people realize this really is very very intense.

 

[ms7479a]

If you look at the recent history of deaths at Disney, most of them were caused because the people had long-standing medical conditions. I think it is very unfair that people try to jump all over Disney. If this had happened at any other theme park it wouldn't have been as big a deal but just because it is Disney everyone jumps to conclusions that it must be Disney's fault. It is a very sad thing but I think that (1) people need to be more careful about what rides they go on, especially if they have medical conditions, (2) realize that accidents are going to happen and they could happen anywhere, and (3) considering all the people who go through the parks each year, I would consider Disney one of the safer places when it comes to theme park fatalities.

 

[TomorrowlandTyler]

The only fault I can have with Disney is with the lawyers and them having some fault in this. The lawyers have required signs saying that if you have high blood pressure, pregnant, etc... on every ride in the park, even the most tame ones it seems. I can see how people can see a warning and think nothing of it. Now, mission space has more warnings than any other ride, but I think something needs to be done to make sure people realize this really is very very intense.

I totally agree, something needs to change regarding the ride warnings. You dont know which ones to take seriously for your condition...The same standard "if you have high blood pressure, pregnant, etc..." are on allmost every ride in the park. If you were to take them all seriously, you couldn't go on any rides and if you ignored them all, something like this is bound to happen...

 

[Iakona]

The only fault I can have with Disney is with the lawyers and them having some fault in this. The lawyers have required signs saying that if you have high blood pressure, pregnant, etc... on every ride in the park, even the most tame ones it seems. I can see how people can see a warning and think nothing of it. Now, mission space has more warnings than any other ride, but I think something needs to be done to make sure people realize this really is very very intense.

Funny, I'd blame the people that hire the lawyers at the drop of a hat.

I love MS and will ride it in June. However, I do think there is some merit in Disney more explicitly showing what the ride does. Since it is newer technology I do wonder if some people ignore the warning signs and because they can't see the intensity they ride anyway.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Bleeding in the brain.. Wasn't that what happened to the British teenager on ToT???

I'll be the first one on here who is against M:S to stand up and say I am glad M:S was not the DIRECT cause of this ladies' sad death.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Funny, I'd blame the people that hire the lawyers at the drop of a hat.

I love MS and will ride it in June. However, I do think there is some merit in Disney more explicitly showing what the ride does. Since it is newer technology I do wonder if some people ignore the warning signs and because they can't see the intensity they ride anyway.

I agree with Disney explaining just how this ride works better to its guests... I believe if they do, however, the number of people who get sick will stay the same, and attendance will not suffer... Because no matter what, people will not take the warnings seriously...

 

[Captain Chaos]

For all of you that are celebrating this report, let me say that everyone that was arguing for the ride to be checked out already knew that the ride was probably going to be exonerated. So, this report CHANGES NOTHING about what has been said countless times in other threads about the warnings not being good enough, and the fact that way too many people get sick as hell on this ride.

Peter I was on the same page with you up to now. I do not think anyone here is celebrating the preliminary results. And of course the ride would be found to not be the cause... We all knew that already...

 

[PlaneJane]

The people who have been hurt on this ride are only people with extreme cases. I believe Corrus said somewhere that the pressure on your body is ony 1.4-1.7G anyways I can sit on you and do that. we could do a Mission:Space the home version