Jul 13, 2005 10:40 am US/Central
Teen Suffers Heart Attack After Disney Ride
Remains Hospitalized In Critical Condition
ORLANDO, Fla. (CBS) ―
Disney World on Wednesday reopened a thrill ride that was closed when a 16-year-old British girl almost died of cardiac arrest after riding it.
Disney had invited an official from the state Bureau of Fair Rides and Exhibitions to monitor a Tuesday night inspection of the "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror," which the park doesn't typically do.
Florida's major theme parks are not directly regulated by the state, and instead have their own inspectors.
Leanne Deacon, of Kibworth, England, remained in critical condition Wednesday after suffering cardiac arrest Tuesday minutes after exiting the attraction, which depicts a haunted elevator ride that plunges more than 100 feet.
Deacon's illness came a month after a 4-year-old Pennsylvania boy, Daudi Bamuwamye, died after riding another Disney World attraction, Epcot's "Mission: Space." That ride is so intense that it has motion sickness bags and several riders have been treated for chest pain. An elderly, diabetic woman also died in February after riding the Magic Kingdom's "Pirates of the Caribbean," but the medical examiner said her death "was not unexpected."
Officials didn't release precise details of what happened to Deacon, but police said she felt nauseous and dizzy after leaving the Tower of Terror.
She thought she'd quickly recover, but park workers who noticed her called in an emergency crew anyway. Before she got to the hospital her condition deteriorated so rapidly that her heart stopped beating and she had to be resuscitated, Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons said. A witness who called 911 said Deacon was shaking badly.
On the Tower of Terror, decorated as a haunted hotel, riders are placed in an elevator that shoots up 13 stories and then plummets back twice. The attraction made its debut in 1994.
Disney warns riders that they should be "in good health and free from high blood pressure, heart, back or neck problems, motion sickness, or other conditions that could be aggravated by this adventure." Pregnant women are advised not to ride.
(© 2005 CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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