Six Flags has shut down its X2 rollercoaster after two riders suffered catastrophic head injuries requiring emergency brain surgery within days of each other this summer.
The closure of the 24-year-old ride at Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, came following a pair of incidents last month that renewed scrutiny of the coaster’s safety record, according to a CNN investigation. The first mishap occurred on July 5, when Pamela Guillen, 40, of Hawaii, took the ride while visiting the park for her daughter’s 16th birthday and repeatedly struck her head against the headrest as the coaster careened at up to 80 mph, according to ambulance records cited by CNN.
After the ride — which has seats that rotate 360 degrees — she began vomiting and later lost consciousness before being rushed to a nearby hospital. Part of her skull was removed to reduce brain swelling, and she didn’t fully regain consciousness for about two weeks investigation.
Just six days later, Los Angeles resident Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, lost consciousness after riding X2 with her siblings and had to be rushed into emergency brain surgery, reports said. X2 was shut to the public on July 12 following Greer-Wilkinson’s injury, and “the ride remains closed at this time,” a park spokesperson said. They didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment about deaths linked to the ride.
Families of both women injured in July said they reportedly were offered food by a Six Flags representative, including from McDonald’s, but otherwise have heard nothing further from the company.
In the viral moment that first put X2 under national scrutiny, 22-year-old Christopher Hawley collapsed and lost consciousness shortly after riding the coaster in June 2022 with his brother and cousin. He died from a traumatic brain injury the following day, with a surgeon describing damage akin to shaken baby syndrome in the skull of the San Diego State University graduate. Hawley’s death was ruled an accident caused by blunt head trauma from a park ride by the Los Angeles County medical examiner. His family sued Six Flags in 2023, and the case was set for trial in September before reportedly being settled for an undisclosed amount, reports said, citing court records.
At least 70 complaints of head or neck injuries connected to X2 were made in the three years before Hawley’s death, according to an expert retained by the family who cited internal Six Flags records. Back in 2010, Hilda Farias, 28, also died after riding X2, although medical experts at the time put her death down to multiple factors, including an existing brain abnormality that may have ruptured due to the ride’s intensity. Her family also later settled a separate lawsuit for an undisclosed amount, reports said.
The X2 coaster, which opened in 2002, has now been linked to two deaths and numerous serious injuries over its 24-year operation at the Southern California theme park.