Relatives of a 10-year-old girl Ventura County girl who died a day after being found unconscious on the Revolution roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 2015 sued the theme park Friday, alleging delayed medical care and the ride’s design were factors in her death.
Buenaventura and Elsa Martinez, the parents of Jasmine Martinez of Somis, filed the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit on behalf of themselves and their two other minor children.
The allegations include wrongful death, negligence, design defect, failure to warn, negligent infliction of emotional distress and negligent misrepresentation.
The suit claims Jasmine’s death could have been prevented had she received quicker medical help and if her head had not been boxed between the over-the-shoulder restraints on the Revolution ride car, causing her head to hit each side of the restraint violently during the ride.
The layout of the park also makes it hard for visitors to get quick medical attention, according to the lawsuit.
The suit seeks unspecified damages. Six Flags spokeswoman Connie Lujan did not immediately return a call for comment.
The family went to the Valencia theme park on June 12, 2015. While at the attraction, Jasmine and her sister, then 15, asked to ride the Revolution roller coaster, which opened in 1976 and received extensive publicity because it was the first modern such ride with a loop, the suit states. The coaster is more than 100 feet tall and cars travel 55 mph and drop 85 feet at one point, according to the lawsuit.
“The two girls boarded the roller coaster and sat together in a two- person row,” the suit states. “From the beginning of the ride, the girls’ heads were banged around on the over-the-shoulder restraints.”
Jasmine’s sister, seeing Jasmine lose consciousnenss, tried to alert a park employee, but she was unable to do so and the ride continued until its normal stopping point, according to the lawsuit.
Jasmine’s sister asked the ride operator to get her sister out of the car, but he refused, saying he did not know what to do and that he would wait for the girls’ mother to get there and remove Jasmine, according to the complaint.
“Elsa removed Jasmine from the roller coaster and attempted to wake her up while screaming for medical assistance,” the suit states. “Magic Mountain staff tried to rouse Jasmine, but they were unsuccessful.”
Magic Mountain employees moved the girl to a back corner of the park, the opposite end from where paramedics arrived with a helicopter, the suit states.
“Jasmine had to be moved across the entire theme park yet again before she could receive the medical attention she desperately needed,” the suit alleges.
Jasmine suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm while riding the Revolution, a condition that is normally not fatal if patients are treated promptly, the suit states.
However, the delays in getting the girl the proper care prevented her from regaining consciousness and she died a day later at a hospital, according to the complaint.
“Six Flags informally offered the Martinez family funds for Jasmine’s funeral, but the Martinez family never received anything else from Six Flags,” the suit states.
“Defendants’ actions or failure to prevent harm to plaintiffs was so mean, vile and contemptible that it would be looked down and despised by reasonable people,” the suit states.
–City News Service