Two women needed emergency brain surgery within six days of each other in July after riding Six Flags Magic Mountain’s X2 roller coaster, adding to a long record of serious injuries tied to the attraction, according to a CNN investigation published Thursday.
The X2 ride at the Valencia, California, park has been closed since July 12. Six Flags has not said what prompted the closure, and California regulators say an inspection is ongoing.
X2 is known for seats that rotate 360 degrees as trains reach speeds near 80 mph through steep drops and sudden changes in direction. CNN’s review of medical records, court filings and depositions found the ride has been linked to more than a dozen reports of serious injuries and hospitalizations since it opened in 2002, including riders left with permanent disabilities or in comas. Two riders have died.
Hawaii resident Pamela Guillen, 40, was visiting the park for her daughter’s 16th birthday on July 5 when she repeatedly struck her head against the headrest, according to ambulance records cited by CNN. She began vomiting after the ride ended and later lost consciousness. Surgeons removed part of her skull to relieve brain swelling, and she did not fully regain consciousness for about two weeks.
Six days later, 25-year-old Los Angeles resident Naomi Greer-Wilkinson lost consciousness after riding X2 with her siblings and was rushed into emergency brain surgery. Her family said doctors told them to prepare for the worst; she remained in a coma on a ventilator as of the CNN report.
Six Flags has said only that the ride “remains closed at this time.” The company has previously defended X2 in litigation, arguing riders are warned of inherent risks and that the forces involved are not sufficient to cause traumatic brain injury in a rider using the attraction as instructed.
The ride has drawn scrutiny before. In June 2022, 22-year-old San Diego State University graduate Christopher Hawley collapsed and lost consciousness shortly after riding X2 with his brother and cousin, dying the following day from a traumatic brain injury. His father recalled a surgeon comparing the damage to shaken baby syndrome. The Los Angeles County medical examiner ruled the death an accident caused by blunt head trauma from a park ride.
The Hawley family sued Six Flags in 2023, and the case had been set for trial in September before CNN reported this week that it was settled, citing court records. CNN did not disclose settlement terms. Christopher’s mother, Anne Hawley, told the outlet the family wanted “accountability” and to prevent the same thing from happening to someone else.
CNN also reported that 28-year-old Hilda Farias died in 2010 after riding X2. According to CNN, medical experts at the time suspected an existing brain abnormality may have ruptured due to the intensity of the ride — the death was not attributed to the coaster’s design alone. Her family later settled a separate lawsuit for an undisclosed amount, CNN reported.
An expert retained by the Hawley family said internal Six Flags records showed at least 70 complaints of head or neck injuries connected to X2 in the three years before Hawley’s death.
Families of both women injured in July said a Six Flags representative offered them food, including McDonald’s, but that they otherwise heard nothing further from the company.
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