{"id":3377,"date":"2025-12-13T20:50:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T20:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=3377"},"modified":"2025-12-13T20:50:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T20:50:13","slug":"death-on-high-speed-roller-coaster-in-florida-deemed-accidental-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=3377","title":{"rendered":"Death on high-speed roller coaster in Florida deemed accidental | Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Florida<\/a> sheriff\u2019s office has concluded that the death of a 32-year-old man while riding a high-speed roller coaster at Universal\u2019s Epic Universe theme park was accidental.<\/p>\n

According to a report released Friday by the local medical examiner, Kevin Rodriguez Zavala suffered a deep cut on the left side of his forehead, a fracture to the bone ridge above his eye and bleeding above his skull. Additional injuries included bruises on his arms and abdomen, a broken nose and a fractured right thigh bone.<\/p>\n

The Orlando medical examiner had already determined Zavala\u2019s death was the result of blunt-impact trauma. Investigators from the Orange county sheriff\u2019s office found that Epic Universe employees followed all safety procedures and were not negligent in what was deemed an accident.<\/p>\n

Epic Universe is Universal Orlando Resort\u2019s newest theme park.<\/p>\n

Security footage captured Zavala appearing \u201cengaged and well\u201d when the ride at the park began \u2013 but at its conclusion, he was slumped and unresponsive, the sheriff\u2019s report said.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Kevin Rodriguez Zavala.<\/span> Photograph: Twitter\/X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Witnesses described seeing Zavala bleeding from his face and leaning over in his seat once the coaster stopped. Anna Marshall, a physician waiting in line for the ride, told investigators that Zavala appeared \u201cslouched over and surrounded by blood\u201d as the coaster returned to the platform. She said one of his arms dangled over the side and that his thigh bone \u201cwas broken in half and resting on the back of the ride chair\u201d.<\/p>\n

Marshall assisted Zavala, who used a wheelchair, after the incident. His girlfriend, Javiliz Cruz-Robles, who was seated next to him, said that Zavala had metal rods in his back from a prior spinal surgery.<\/p>\n

Family members told investigators that Zavala\u2019s spinal cord atrophy, the condition behind his disability, had no role in his death on 17 September.<\/p>\n

When the ride halted, Zavala sustained extensive facial injuries and remained restrained by the lap bar, which could not be released for about ten minutes, according to Universal paramedic Sebastian Torres.<\/p>\n

Cruz-Robles told investigators that a ride operator had to push the lap bar down multiple times before it locked into place and that it seemed too tight across their laps. She said Zavala was thrown forward during the ride\u2019s first descent, striking his head on the metal bar ahead of them. He hit his head several more times throughout the ride as she struggled unsuccessfully to hold him back.<\/p>\n

The sheriff\u2019s office noted that warning signs at the ride entrance cautioned guests about sudden drops and accelerations. It also advised against riding with \u201cback, neck or similar physical conditions\u201d, or after recent surgeries or conditions that might be worsened by the ride.<\/p>\n

Zavala\u2019s parents shared that he had fractured a thigh bone requiring surgery in 2020 and underwent hip surgery following a dislocation in 2010.<\/p>\n

The roller coaster, a dual-launch design reaching speeds of up to 62mph (100 km\/ph), officially opened in May to visitors of Epic Universe.<\/p>\n

The ruling in Zavala\u2019s death comes after a jury last December awarded<\/a> $310m to the family of a 14-year-old boy who was thrown to his death from a since-dismantled free-fall ride at Orlando\u2019s Icon Park in March 2022. The episode prompted Florida legislators to pass the Tyre Sampson Act to bolster safety requirements for amusement park attractions.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed reporting<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#Death #highspeed #roller #coaster #Florida #deemed #accidental #Florida<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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