A woman who rode the notorious X2 rollercoaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain has been on a ventilator for months after suffering brain damage, according to a lawsuit.
Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, collapsed after riding the California attraction in July. She has remained in a coma with a severe traumatic brain injury ever since, the lawsuit claims.
More than 100 people have reportedly come forward in recent months alleging that they suffered serious brain injuries on the ride, according to Dordick Law, which has filed multiple lawsuits against Six Flags.
At a press conference this week, attorney Gary Dordick said the Magic Mountain park “has known about the dangers of this ride for years,” as former riders alleged they had suffered brain injuries on the attraction.
Greer-Wilkinson’s parents said their daughter “still hasn’t come home” months after riding the rollercoaster. They said she remains unable to breathe independently and continues to require a ventilator.
Six days before Greer-Wilkinson was allegedly injured, California mother Pamela Guillen was also reportedly left with severe brain damage after riding the X2 while celebrating her daughter’s 16th birthday.
Guillen told ABC7 that the X2 was her family’s final ride of the day. After getting off, she said she felt “confused and disoriented.”
Her next memory, she said, was waking up in hospital two weeks later. Her family told her that she had collapsed and undergone emergency brain surgery.
Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, collapsed after riding the X2 rollercoaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in July
The 25-year-old remains in hospital on a ventilator months after riding the notorious rollercoaster
The X2 at Six Flags in Valencia, California, has been closed since July 12. It hits speeds of nearly 80 miles per hour while flipping seats 360 degrees
“I remember seeing the fear in my daughter’s eyes and how scared she was,” Guillen said.
“I had suffered a traumatic brain injury and needed emergency brain surgery to stop the bleeding and had to be intubated. I was in a coma. I spent almost a month at the hospital.”
Her daughter, Camille Marquez, said: “We got off the cart and we saw my mom. She looked lifeless. Not a thought behind her eyes, nothing.
“She had a brain bleed. My mom had a really bad brain bleed.”
An ambulance took Guillen from Six Flags to hospital, where surgeons saved her life by removing part of her skull to relieve pressure, CNN reported. She later had to relearn how to walk and speak during her recovery, which began about two weeks afterward.
Guillen said she continues to suffer from “headaches every day [and] fatigues after doing simple things.”
“Sometimes I just feel really down because I am not me anymore,” she told the broadcaster.
Guillen has since been able to return home, but Greer-Wilkinson remains in hospital on a ventilator, according to her family.
Pamela Guillen, 40, suffered severe brain hemorrhages after riding the X2 at Six Flags in Valencia, California. Her daughter, Camille Marquez, told CNN: “We got off the cart and we saw my mom. She looked lifeless. Not a thought behind her eyes, nothing”
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There are only three X2 roller coasters in the world: one in Valencia, California, another in China and a third in Japan
Her father, Joshua Wilkinson, told CNN: “The jarring had damaged part of her brain and it had begun to bleed.”
Doctors were able to save Greer-Wilkinson’s life through emergency brain surgery.
Her mother, Artemis Greer, said: “I do remember one of the surgeons storming through the ER and yelling: ‘How many is it this month? They’ve got to shut that ride down!’ He was furious.”
“Naomi should have never, ever in a million years, even had the option to get on that ride. It’s absolutely insane,” she said.
The X2 can reach speeds of nearly 80 miles per hour while rotating its seats 360 degrees along the track. It is marketed as the world’s first fourth-dimension rollercoaster.
The ride is widely considered one of the most intense roller coasters in the world. Only two other attractions of the same type operate worldwide, in China and Japan.
Another plaintiff, attorney Michael Wick, said he rode the X2 during a family outing but suffered injuries so severe that he is now unable to practice law because of his disability.
Wick said he underwent two brain surgeries after riding the attraction, adding to the growing number of thrill-seekers who allegedly suffered injuries on the rollercoaster.
Dordick said at the press conference that he intends to file more lawsuits against Magic Mountain. He accused the park of believing “it’s ok that if people voluntarily choose to ride a roller coaster, then they’ve assumed the risk.”
“They don’t assume a risk of death or catastrophic brain damage for some family fun,” Dordick said.
After Dordick announced the lawsuits, Six Flags said in a statement to ABC7: “The ride remains closed at this time. It has been closed since the evening of July 12. It is our policy not to comment on pending litigation.”
The X2 reaches speeds of nearly 80 miles per hour while rotating rider seats 360 degrees around the track
Christopher Hawley (center), 22, died after riding the X2 rollercoaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain with his brother and cousin in 2022
Medical reports reviewed by CNN have linked the X2 to more than a dozen injury reports and hospitalizations over the past two decades.
Christopher Hawley, a 22-year-old college graduate, died about 10 hours after riding the attraction with his brother and cousin in 2022, the outlet reported.
A coroner’s report concluded that he had suffered blunt-force head trauma in a “park ride accident,” according to CNN.
His father, William Hawley, told Fox 11 that a surgeon said the X2 “hit his head so hard that it had basically ruptured his brain.”
Hawley’s parents’ attorneys filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against park operator Magic Mountain LLC and S&S Worldwide Inc., the supplier of a replacement coaster train.
The Hawley family reached a settlement with Magic Mountain LLC last month and also reached an agreement with S&S. The terms of both agreements have not been disclosed.
