Epcot ride death a mystery
No signs of trauma to 4-year-old's body
By Jerry W. Jackson, Henry Pierson Curtis and Robyn Shelton | Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted June 15, 2005
Authorities were trying to determine Tuesday why a 4-year-old Pennsylvania boy collapsed on Epcot's Mission: Space ride and later died.
Daudi Bamuwamye, who was visiting the park Monday with his mother and sister, was barely big enough to meet the height requirements for the intense, 4-minute ride. He stood 3 feet 10, just 2 inches taller than the 44-inch minimum listed on the warning signs.
A preliminary autopsy report Tuesday found no signs of trauma. It may take four to 12 weeks for the final results.
Daudi's mother, Agnes Bamuwamye, told Orange County authorities that at one point in the ride Monday afternoon, she reached for her son when she thought he was afraid. Toward the end of the ride, she said, his "body was rigid and his legs were extended straight out."
Bamuwamye said she carried her son out of the ride and sought help. Daudi was treated on the scene by Walt Disney World employees and Reedy Creek paramedics before being taken to Celebration Hospital, where he was declared dead.
A tape recording of the 911 call shows Disney workers took more than 2 minutes before starting cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the lifeless child.
A Mission: Space supervisor thought Daudi had passed out on the thrill ride. He didn't mention that the child was not breathing until a fire-rescue dispatcher asked 1 minute 20 seconds into the emergency call.
"Is he breathing?" the female dispatcher asked.
"Is he breathing?" the male supervisor responded. "No. He's currently not breathing."
A quick back-and-forth followed.
"He's not breathing?" she asked.
"No," the man responded.
At 1 minute, 45 seconds, the dispatcher said, "OK, I need somebody to go over to the child, and I can give you directions to do CPR."
At 2 minutes, 40 seconds on the 911 recording, the ride supervisor told the dispatcher that CPR was being done by a CPR-certified employee. Reedy Creek Fire Rescue paramedics arrived at 4 minutes, 30 seconds.
When a heart stops, brain death can begin within four to six minutes.
Reedy Creek Fire Rescue spokesman Bo Jones confirmed that CPR did not begin until more than 21/2 minutes into the emergency call. He said the sooner CPR is begun after someone stops breathing, the better the chances are for survival.
Daudi's death prompted renewed calls Tuesday for greater oversight of big parks and rides.
Although Disney World checked Mission: Space, declared it safe and reopened it Tuesday morning, that should not be enough, said Kathy Fackler, founder of Saferparks, a California-based nonprofit lobbying for more federal inspections and standardized reporting.
"Anytime you have a fatality on a commercial thrill ride, someone from an agency should come in and find out what they can find out, and track it," Fackler said.
Florida exempts large parks from the same inspections of small amusement parks, and nationally the Consumer Product Safety Commission gets involved only with traveling fairs and parks.
U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., repeated his call Tuesday for Congress to put the safety commission in charge of investigating all parks. He said Monday's death raises questions that should be answered by a federal agency.
"How are height restrictions determined? Do they rise as the force of the ride increases? Should there be an age restriction as well?" Markey said in a statement. He introduced a bill last month calling for regulatory oversight by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Disney World spokeswoman Jacquee Polak said the height restrictions are based on the mechanics of restraint systems, and if children are large enough to be restrained in seats, then it is safe for them to ride. The $100 million attraction opened in 2003 and spins riders in a centrifuge to simulate the feel of a rocket launch.
She said the company felt comfortable in reopening the attraction Tuesday morning because of its track record of safety -- about 8.6 million guests have ridden it since 2003 -- and after the park's engineers found it to be operating normally. She said no independent inspection was necessary.
Disney said in a statement that the entire company and all of the employees were "saddened by this highly unusual event. Our first concern is for the family, and we are doing everything we can to help them during this difficult time."
The family, including father Moses Bamuwamye, who works at the United Nations headquarters, released a statement through the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office: "We would like to thank all those in the Orlando area, as well as those back home for their outpouring of concern, prayer and support. We would ask that you continue to respect our privacy as we struggle with this heartbreaking and devastating loss."
News of the youngster's death stunned the family's neighbors in Sellersville, Pa., a community between Allentown and Philadelphia. "This is just shocking and sad," said Dorcas DeTurk. She said the family was "very close and loving," and Daudi and his sister, 8-year-old Ruthie, often played with DeTurk's children.
If the ride contributed to Daudi's death, doctors said the trouble could be with the lungs, heart or brain.
Dr. John Kuluz, an associate professor and expert in pediatric critical care and brain injuries at the University of Miami, said the mother's report of her son's rigidity suggests that the brain was a more likely suspect.
"That episode of being rigid makes it sound as if the brain was having increased pressure," said Kuluz, who does research in children's brain injuries.
He said different things could cause the stiffening, including a hemorrhage or bleeding in the brain that might be triggered by high G-forces and spinning. But, he added, it's unlikely that a healthy child suddenly would be stricken.
Pediatric cardiologists said various abnormalities can trigger sudden death. However, they said, serious problems usually make themselves known before age 4.
Overall, doctors said children's bodies are better able to deal with the physical stresses on intense amusement-park rides. They said they couldn't give blanket recommendations to parents.
"If anything, a kid can tolerate [rides] better than an adult," said Dr. Tom Carson, a Florida Hospital pediatric cardiologist. "But I guess the best advice is that if there is any family history of sudden death or fainting, those kids should be evaluated by a physician before going on a ride like that."
Most of the people riding Mission: Space Tuesday said they had not heard of the boy's death. Houston residents Steve Barnes and his wife, Hayley, said they allowed four of their five children to ride, all but the 3-year-old.
"I think we would have still taken the ride even if we knew beforehand about the child's death," Steve Barnes said. "I felt it was safe."
Chris Cobbs of the Sentinel staff and Pamela Lehman of The (Allentown, Pa.) Morning Call, a Tribune Publishing newspaper, contributed to this report. Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at
jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5721. Henry Pierson Curtis can be reached at
hcurtis@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5257. Robyn Shelton can be reached at
rshelton@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5487.
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