ORLANDO, Fla. — The death of a 32-year-old man after riding a high-speed roller coaster at a Universal Studios theme park was accidental and an investigation has been closed, a sheriff's office in Florida said Friday.
Security video showed Kevin Rodriguez Zavala “engaged and well” at the start of the ride but unresponsive and slouched over in his seat at the end, according to the report from the Orange County Sheriff's Office in Orlando.
When the ride came to a stop, Zavala was bleeding from the face, and his body was contorted, according to witnesses.
Anna Marshall, a medical doctor who was standing in line to board the ride, said Zavala was slouched over and surrounded by blood when the coaster returned to the boarding platform. His arm was hanging over the ride, and his thigh bone was broken in half and resting on the back of the ride chair, she told investigators.
Zavala used a wheelchair. As Marshall rendered aid, Zavala's girlfriend, Javiliz Cruz-Robles, who was beside him on the ride, told the doctor that he had metal rods in his back from a previous spinal surgery.
“Dr. Marshall explained that she did not believe that just because Kevin Rodriguez-Zavala didn’t have use of his legs that that was the sole reason why this occurred,” the report said.
Zavala's family also have said his spinal disability didn’t cause his death on Sept. 17. The media office for attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Zavala’s family, didn’t return an emailed inquiry about the sheriff’s office report on Friday.
Zavala had severe facial trauma when the ride stopped. He was still secured in his ride seat by a lap bar, which ride operators had difficulty releasing for 10 minutes, Universal paramedic Sebastian Torres told sheriff's office investigators.
“'The guest was stuck on the ride vehicle face down, falling out of his seat, with legs inverted,'” Torres wrote in a statement included in the report.
Cruz-Robles told investigators that a ride operator had to push Zavala's lap restraint down several times before it was safely in place when they first got on the ride. When the coaster began the first downward movement, she said Zavala flew forward and hit his head. During the ride Zavala hit his head several times more, and Cruz-Robles said she tried but was unable to hold him back.
“Javiliz was crying for help, but due to being in the middle of the ride, no one heard her screaming for help until the train cart was getting close to the station,” the report said.
The medical examiner for the Orlando area ruled the death an accident after performing an autopsy, saying Zavala died of blunt-impact injuries.
The dual-launch coaster reaches speeds up to 62 mph (100 kph) and debuted officially in May when Universal Orlando Resort’s newest theme park opened to the public.
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