millie
17-11-2005, 20:50
Not sure if this has already been posted ......
Autopsy shows boy died at Disney from heart condition
A 4-year-old Pennsylvania boy who died last summer after he rode one of Walt Disney World's most popular thrill rides died from a cardiac arrythmia brought on by heart disease.
Daudi Bamuwamye collapsed June 14 while riding Mission: Space at EPCOT with his mother and older sister. Orange-Osceola Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia released the cause of death today as heart abnormality from an unknown, possibly congenital cause.
"People with this condition are at risk for sudden death throughout their life due to abnormal electrical heart rhythms," she wrote. "The risk could be increased under physical and emotional stressful situations."
Neither the child's parents or their lawyer, Robert A. Samartin of Tampa, could be reached for comment.
Garavaglia informed the parents of the cause of death on Monday and waited a day to release it to the public to give the parents time to absorb the information.
Disney released a statement today saying, "Our sympathies are with the families during this difficult time. In regard to the reports, we believe they speak for themselves."
Questions were raised immediately after the death about the quality of Disney's emergency medical response by Disney ride attendants.
Despite being certified to perform CPR, two attendants who observed Daudi Bamuwamye being carried motionless from the ride did not check his pulse and thought he had passed out, according to a recording of their 911 call.
The Disney workers did not begin CPR for more than 2 minutes before being prompted to start by a 911 dispatcher.
No one has commented on whether the delay might have contributed to the child's death.
Millions of children and adults have ridden Mission:Space, a ride that mimics a flight to Mars, without problems.
Paramedic-response records show about 100 Mission:Space riders have been treated for complaints ranging from nine people who passed out; 18 suffering from temporary paralysis; 31 for vomiting and 38 for severe dizziness.
About 3,000 Disney workers are trained in CPR, and there are about 500 automatic defibrillators stationed throughout Disney's Central Florida theme parks.
The child's parents, Agnes and Moses Bamuwamye of Sellersville, Pa., asked Disney last summer to raise the minimum height requirement to exclude more young children from the ride that spins passengers at 2 G's ?twice the force of earth's gravity.
Disney declined the request to raise the admission bar from 44 to 51 inches, stating there was no indication that the ride contributed to the child's death. Daudi Bamuwamye stood 46 inches tall.
The medical examiner's office also announced on Tuesday that the unrelated death in August of 12-year Jerra Kriby at Walt Disney World's Typhoon Lagoon was caused by a viral infection that attacked her heart.
In a way it is a relief that this was not due to the ride. Must be awful for the family to lose a little one like that on such a happy holiday.
Autopsy shows boy died at Disney from heart condition
A 4-year-old Pennsylvania boy who died last summer after he rode one of Walt Disney World's most popular thrill rides died from a cardiac arrythmia brought on by heart disease.
Daudi Bamuwamye collapsed June 14 while riding Mission: Space at EPCOT with his mother and older sister. Orange-Osceola Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia released the cause of death today as heart abnormality from an unknown, possibly congenital cause.
"People with this condition are at risk for sudden death throughout their life due to abnormal electrical heart rhythms," she wrote. "The risk could be increased under physical and emotional stressful situations."
Neither the child's parents or their lawyer, Robert A. Samartin of Tampa, could be reached for comment.
Garavaglia informed the parents of the cause of death on Monday and waited a day to release it to the public to give the parents time to absorb the information.
Disney released a statement today saying, "Our sympathies are with the families during this difficult time. In regard to the reports, we believe they speak for themselves."
Questions were raised immediately after the death about the quality of Disney's emergency medical response by Disney ride attendants.
Despite being certified to perform CPR, two attendants who observed Daudi Bamuwamye being carried motionless from the ride did not check his pulse and thought he had passed out, according to a recording of their 911 call.
The Disney workers did not begin CPR for more than 2 minutes before being prompted to start by a 911 dispatcher.
No one has commented on whether the delay might have contributed to the child's death.
Millions of children and adults have ridden Mission:Space, a ride that mimics a flight to Mars, without problems.
Paramedic-response records show about 100 Mission:Space riders have been treated for complaints ranging from nine people who passed out; 18 suffering from temporary paralysis; 31 for vomiting and 38 for severe dizziness.
About 3,000 Disney workers are trained in CPR, and there are about 500 automatic defibrillators stationed throughout Disney's Central Florida theme parks.
The child's parents, Agnes and Moses Bamuwamye of Sellersville, Pa., asked Disney last summer to raise the minimum height requirement to exclude more young children from the ride that spins passengers at 2 G's ?twice the force of earth's gravity.
Disney declined the request to raise the admission bar from 44 to 51 inches, stating there was no indication that the ride contributed to the child's death. Daudi Bamuwamye stood 46 inches tall.
The medical examiner's office also announced on Tuesday that the unrelated death in August of 12-year Jerra Kriby at Walt Disney World's Typhoon Lagoon was caused by a viral infection that attacked her heart.
In a way it is a relief that this was not due to the ride. Must be awful for the family to lose a little one like that on such a happy holiday.