Child Dies on Epcot Ride

It's hard to explain these kinds of stories:

A 4-year-old boy on a family vacation died Monday afternoon after he passed out on a Disney World ride at Epcot.

The incident happened around 3:30 p.m. on the Mission: SPACE ride, according to Disney officials. The ride spins passengers on a multi-armed centrifuge to simulate a launch into space. It exerts more than twice the normal force of gravity on occupants.

Daudi Bamuwamye, 4, reportedly passed out on the ride and paramedics responded. Witnesses reported seeing Daudi's mother, Agnes, carry him outside to a nearby bench. Paramedics and a Disney worker tried to revive the child, but could not save him. He was prounounced dead at 5 p.m. at Celebration Hospital.

A sheriff's report said the mother noticed the boy's body was rigid and that his legs were stretched straight out. She told detectives that she thought the ride was frightening him so she took his hand to reassure him.

I'm not a doctor, but it sounds like the poor kid had a seizure. I've seen this before in my own son when he was only 1, and it's a scary, scary thing to witness. We were lucky in that my son, although he had a second event at 18 months, grew out of the problem as his doctor predicted. His seizures were caused by suddenly spiking high fevers.

I don't know if the ride itself contributed to the boy's illness, but this information about Mission: SPACE was of some concern:

During an eight-month period that ended last year, six people over age 55 were taken to the hospital for chest pain and nausea after riding Mission: SPACE, a $100 million attaction that is one of Disney World's most popular. It was the most hospital visits for a single ride since Florida's major theme parks agreed in 2001 to report any serious injuries to the state.

I still remember Mission to the Moon which opened at Disneyland in the 60's (it was later changed to Mission to Mars after the moon landing). It was pretty tame by today's standards, consisting of a little more than a couple of video screens and vibrating seats. A ride like that today would get laughed out of a theme park.