The family of a 22-year-old man who died after riding a roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California has filed a lawsuit against the theme park, accusing it of defective ride design and failure to warn visitors of potential dangers.
Christopher Hawley, a San Diego State University graduate, was visiting the Los Angeles County park with his family in the summer of 2022 when he rode the X2 attraction. According to Fox 11 Los Angeles, Hawley collapsed shortly after stepping off the ride and died the following day. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled his death an accident caused by blunt-force head trauma sustained from the attraction.
Hawley's younger brother, Alex, described the ride as intensely violent, saying it jerked passengers around before ending with a jolt that sent their heads slamming into the headrests. «It was very rough. It just jerked us. It just jerked us all around,» Alex told the local station. «It just jolted us all the way forward and then our heads just swung all the way back into the headrest.»
After Christopher stepped off the attraction, he appeared noticeably unwell, with his face turning very red before suddenly collapsing. Emergency responders rushed him to a nearby hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries the next day, Fox 11 reported.
The family said a surgeon compared Hawley's injuries to shaken baby syndrome, a condition in which violent and sudden forces cause the brain to move rapidly within the skull, potentially resulting in swelling, bruising and bleeding. «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,» Christopher's father, William, told the local station.
The lawsuit, which also names the manufacturer of the X2 roller coaster and park employees as defendants, alleges that the defendants failed to adequately warn the public about the ride's risks. A jury trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 8, according to reports.
Six Flags declined to comment directly on the litigation to Fox News Digital. However, the amusement park told Fox 11 that the ride remains closed following a separate incident on July 5, when a rider was found unconscious, prompting the attraction to close for more than a month. «The ride remains closed at this time. It has been closed since the evening of July 12th,» Six Flags said.
X2 has been advertised as one of the theme park's most intense attractions and features seats that rotate 360 degrees. The Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.