A Six Flags Magic Mountain rollercoaster was so rough that a young man died from a brain injury hours after riding it, his family claimed in a lawsuit.
Christopher Hawley, 22, of Garden Grove, California, died in June of 2022 the day after visiting the park and riding the X2 roller coaster.
His family claimed in a wrongful death suit obtained by Fox that he collapsed after riding the attraction and was noticeably unwell after going on the ride.
Hawley’s family have since spoken with the outlet, saying Christopher told family members that it was a rough ride and that it was jerking those onboard aggressively.
The suit claims that he suffered massive head and brain damage from the ride which ultimately resulted in his death.
The LA County Medical Examiner later ruled that the college graduate died as a result of blunt head trauma.
His younger brother Alex, who was with his sibling on the ride, told Fox that it was violent and ended up with a sudden stop that slammed their heads into the headrests.
He said: ‘It was very rough. It just jerked us. It just jerked us all around. It just jolted us all the way forward and then our heads just swung all the way back into the headrest.’
Christopher Hawley died in June of 2022 the day after visiting the park and riding the X2 roller coaster
His family’s lawsuit claims that he suffered massive head and brain damage from the ride which ultimately resulted in his death
Alex said his brother stepped off the attraction and his face turned red before he suddenly collapsed to the ground.
He told the outlet that emergency teams rushed his brother to a nearby hospital but he died from his injuries the next day.
Christopher’s father William said a surgeon compared his son’s injuries to shaken baby syndrome.
The condition is a severe head trauma as a result of sudden forces causing the brain to move within the skull, causing swelling, bruising and bleeding.
William added: ‘The surgeon had said, he likened it to shaken baby syndrome, that the ride hit his head so hard that it had basically ruptured his brain.’
His mother Anne said: ‘I remember him [Alex] saying, “Mom, Christopher collapsed, and he’s not waking up”.
‘We went from a family of four to a family of three in an instant. It’s devastating. It is a piece of us that is gone forever.’
Christopher’s father William said a surgeon compared his son’s injuries to shaken baby syndrome
The LA County Medical Examiner later ruled that the college graduate died as a result of blunt head trauma
Last month the same ride was involved in another incident when a rider was found unconscious, forcing the park to shutter it for a month, KTLA reported.
A jury trial is set to begin in their suit in September, the family are seeking compensatory damages, SCV reported. The Daily Mail approached Six Flags for comment on the litigation.
The family’s attorney Timothy Loranger told Fox: ‘If you’re going to operate that and you’re going to invite the public to ride as passengers, you have to take every step that you possibly can to ensure that they’re going to be safe, that they are not going to suffer an injury that could potentially kill them.’
An obituary for Christopher said: ‘He found joy in everything and in everyone around him. He was a bright light in this world and was always so positive and kind.
‘He wanted everyone around him to be happy. He persevered when things got tough or challenging and managed to never complain.
‘Christopher was selfless, a hard worker, and was always willing to lend a hand whenever he saw that it was needed.’
