Girl dies at Disney water park

ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 5) - Medical examiners were trying to determine Friday why a 12-year-old Virginia girl died after collapsing at a wave pool in a Disney World water park - the third time in two months a child has died or become critically ill at the resort.



AP
The girl, whose name had not been released, was in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon at about 6 p.m. Talk About It: Post Thoughts


Results from Friday's autopsy could be available quickly if there's an obvious sign of trouble, but they could take much longer if specialists are forced to conduct microscopic studies on a sectioned brain or heart, said Steve Hanson, chief investigator for the Medical Examiner's Office in Orlando.

"What is more likely is it may end up taking several weeks," he said.

The girl, whose name had not been released, was in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon at about 6 p.m. Thursday when lifeguards noticed her lying on a ledge, out of the water, Orange County sheriff's officials said. The lifeguards asked if she was OK, and she said she was fine and wanted to be left alone, but then passed out when she stood up, officials said.

Lifeguards performed CPR until paramedics arrived and took her to Celebration Hospital, where she was pronounced dead a short time later. Relatives from Newport News, Va., who were with her said she had no known medical problems, the sheriff's office said.

Disney spokesman Bill Warren confirmed the sheriff's report of the girl's death, but he wouldn't release any more details while the investigation was under way. He said the park was operating normally Friday because "there was nothing mechanical wrong."

Disney officials notified the state's Fair Ride Bureau about the girl's death but had requested no assistance, said Terence McElroy, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Florida's large theme parks are generally exempt from state oversight but can ask for help.

"We've asked them to keep us informed," McElroy said.


"There's absolutely no telling what was wrong with her."
-Randy King

Three other people have died this year at Disney World, out of the millions who visit the park each year. Two of the victims were adults in poor health, while one - a 4-year-old Pennsylvania boy who died while riding Epcot's "Mission: Space" in June - is still under investigation.

In addition, a 16-year-old British girl suffered cardiac arrest last month after exiting the "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" ride at the Disney-MGM Studios. She was still in critical condition Friday, but her family has blocked release of further details of her illness.

Theme park consultant Randy King, a former safety director at amusement park operator Six Flags, said he wasn't aware of safety problems with wave pools. "There's absolutely no telling what was wrong with her," he said.

But to calm any public jitters about the resort's safety, Disney would be best served by bringing in an unbiased expert or a consumer advocate group to vouch for their investigations, said Aaron Kwittken, CEO of the New York-based public relations firm Euro RSCG Magnet.

"I think that what they're doing right now is they're reacting by incident," he said. "They're at the point right now where they have to be more proactive. That's what shareholders and consumers expect of them."


This was copy off of the AOL sign on screen. It would not let me copy the link.

Another death? Jeez, thats about 4 this week, 2 of which being children near water

whos good enough to name all the injuries and deaths at dinsey this year

not me

[Brtnboarder495]

Dehydration? Heart Attack?

[hyyyper]

Originally posted by Brtnboarder495

Dehydration?

in a wave pool?
i guess...

heat exhaustion? stroke? allergic to water? low heart rate? zombification? choked and drowned on spit? too much chlorine? lol.. wtf is wrong with disney parks? their rides are tame yet everyone is dropping dead on them!

Originally posted by CoAsTeRkRazY

whos good enough to name all the injuries and deaths at dinsey this year

What kind of morbid stuff are you into? Geesh.
Anyway, I would say heat stroke for this girl ... happens more than gets reported.

Yeah i agree...The only reason this was online was probably the fact that it happened at Disney. I hope Disney doesn't start to get a bad reputation due to all the problems like this at their parks.

she cant of drowned coz they would have found water particles in her lungs. and if she had reactions from the water they would have found rupturs in her brain or circularity system, i dont think the water has anything to do with it