The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Burst blood vessel led to KI roller coaster closing

Coroner confirms identities of three men killed in arson
11/7/09
Threats prompt school lockdown; suspect charged
11/6/09
Mason woman heard Fort Hood gunfire as husband hid
11/6/09
No Ohio Guard members injured at Fort Hood
11/6/09
Proton Therapy confirms talks to build center in Miami Twp.
11/6/09
> More headlines

Kings Island's Son of Beast opened in 2000 as the tallest, fastest and only looping wooden roller coaster in the world. The loop has since been removed after passengers were injured in 2006.

Staff photo by Linda Weisenborn Kings Island's Son of Beast opened in 2000 as the tallest, fastest and only looping wooden roller coaster in the world. The loop has since been removed after passengers were injured in 2006.

Woman alleges head injury after riding the coaster

By Eric Schwartzberg, Staff Writer Updated 5:43 PM Tuesday, June 23, 2009

MASON — A 39-year-old woman called Kings Island this month to say she burst a blood vessel in her brain on May 31 as a result of the Son of Beast roller coaster and was admitted to an hospital’s intensive care unit, according to state records.

Kings Island voluntarily shut down the ride after the woman reported her injury, according to park officials.

Those officials also contacted the department that day, June 16 — as required by law — and relayed the information the woman had told them, according to Kaleigh Frazier, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which oversees amusement park ride safety.

Frazier said all information in the accident log was provided by Kings Island and is not able to be confirmed at this point because the investigation is ongoing.

The department’s Amusement Ride Safety Division is assigned to the investigation, which will continue until all information can be gathered and the next step can be determined, Frazier said.

If an investigation reveal a problem with a ride, the department has the authority to mandate that it be shut down until the problem is fixed and a full inspection can be completed, Frazier said.

“Each case is different, obviously,” she said. “There is no status quo when it comes to these investigations.”

Kings Island spokesman Don Helbig said the park takes all guest comments seriously and is proactive when it comes to ride safety. “We immediately closed the ride and contacted the state of Ohio and told them we wanted to conduct a thorough maintenance review,” he said.

Helbig also said it was too early to speculate when the ride will reopen. He also said the park is looking into why it took the guest two weeks to report the alleged injury.

Seventeen-year-olds Helen Benchetrit and Carol Perdomo of Florida said they rode The Beast during their Monday visit to the park and were planning to ride Son of Beast.

“Now that’s something else has happened, it’s a little startling,” Perdomo said.

However, she said anyone opting to board Son of Beast should have been aware that its a bumpy ride.

“Usually you expect it if you’re going on a wooden roller coaster,” she said.

Brandon Kamp, 14, of Cincinnati, said although he heard of prior reports regarding the ride, the May 31 report left him unconcerned.

“I would still ride it,” he said. “I think it’s a fun ride.”

This isn’t the first time Son of Beast has been closed. In the summer 2006, the ride sent 27 people to hospitals and an expert was called in to assess the Son of Beast’s structural integrity.

Later in 2006, a report by the state agriculture department stated a design flaw caused a wooden beam to crack from the weight of the roller-coaster riders, causing the accident. As a result, Son of Beast had its 118-foot loop removed for King’s Island’s 2007 opening.

In 2000, Paramount Parks claimed the beams supporting the coaster were deficient in a lawsuit against the ride’s manufacturers. Then the ride opened after the park spent $25,000 to correct problems.

Staff writer Chelsey Levingston contributed to this report.

Share this article

ADD COMMENT

Comments feed

I have to agree with the people that are saying...COME ON!! KI is not the cause of this ladies problem..everyone knows that WOODEN COASTERS ARE ROUGH!! If you don't want a headache, don't ride them. DUH!!!!

Shele
11:46 AM, 8/10/2009

REPORT ABUSE

The Son of Beast is a disgrace to the good name of The Beast (best coaster ever built) and Kings Island. I have always thought so. It was jerky when it first came out, and I immediately wondered about the integrity of the loop. Although it's jerky like its father, it was uncomfortably so and more importantly it's just not very fun compared to the other great rides at the park. I say tear it down, and build it back even better. Everyone loves a good comeback!

CBASS
9:22 AM, 7/30/2009

REPORT ABUSE

I was at Kings Island July 14,2009, my husband and I was eating and then we were going to get on The Beast. While we were eating we saw the ambulance go through the park. After we ate we walked around the corner to The Beast and they were loading a girl on the backboard in a hurry, with full percautions. As an EMT myself and the little I observed either there were three new EMT'S who have not seen much in thier career or they were concerned, definately in a hurry. They closed The Beast after.

Cheree
1:44 PM, 7/16/2009

REPORT ABUSE

I am disgusted by the fact that most of you only care about getting to ride the SOB again and not how this poor woman is doing. As a nurse, it's hard to say what her cognitive status was. A rupturing of a blood vessel in your brain could have stroke-like symptoms. My sternum (chest bone)was fractured in the 7/9/06 accident on SOB and I now have a titanium plate w/ 8 screws in my chest, plus still have pain issues on a daily basis. This could be something she deals with for the rest of her life.

Previously injured on SOB
9:38 AM, 7/13/2009

REPORT ABUSE

I guess what doesn't make sense is you can bust a blood vessel by crying how do they know its the ride that did it. Stop trying to sue kings island your gonna lose

Me
12:17 PM, 7/11/2009

REPORT ABUSE

There are 106 additional comments

SHOW ALL

We welcome your comments. Please remember this is a public forum and behave appropriately. Your comments must conform to our visitor's agreement.