By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Published: 13:07 BST, 28 August 2026 | Updated: 16:21 BST, 28 August 2026
A theme park has been forced to close a state-of-the-art rollercoaster after it was linked to deaths and serious injuries.
The X2 ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, was promoted as a '[rite] of passage for the ultimate daredevil', but a new report shows that its twists and turns may be more extreme than the human body can handle.
It was shut down on July 12, a day after the second of two catastrophic brain-injury incidents that occurred less than a week apart.
However, a report by the news broadcaster CNN has found that these were only the latest in a decades-long string of incidents allegedly leading to life-altering disabilities, comas, and deaths.
According to CNN's investigation, Pamela Guillen, 40, of Hawaii lost consciousness shortly after riding X2 during a family holiday.
After being rushed to hospital, doctors found brain injuries normally associated with high-speed collisions that left her in a coma for two weeks.
Just days later, Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, from Los Angeles, was taken to hospital after riding the same rollercoaster and remains, as of CNN's report, in a coma.
A park spokesman told the Daily Mail: 'The ride remains closed at this time.'
Six Flags Magic Mountain has been forced to close its popular X2 rollercoaster after a report linked the ride to more than a dozen severe injuries
According to medical records, depositions, and legal filings, X2 has been linked to more than a dozen serious injuries and hospitalisations since it opened in 2002.
For example, in 2014, 17-year-old Selena O'Neil rode X2 with her friends.
Immediately after exiting the ride, her head began to ache, her vision blurred, and Selena struggled to walk straight.
Her right leg started to shake whenever she put weight on it and it stuck out at an unusual angle.
