ORLANDO, Fla. — The death of a 32-year-old man after riding a high-speed roller coaster at a Universal Studios theme park was accidental and an investigation has been closed, a sheriff’s office in Florida said Friday.
Security video showed Kevin Rodriguez Zavala “engaged and well” at the start of the ride but unresponsive and slouched over in his seat at the end, according to the report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando.
When the ride came to a stop, Zavala was bleeding from the face, and his body was contorted, according to witnesses.
Anna Marshall, a medical doctor who was standing in line to board the ride, said Zavala was slouched over and surrounded by blood when the coaster returned to the boarding platform. His arm was hanging over the ride, and his thigh bone was broken in half and resting on the back of the ride chair, she told investigators.
Zavala used a wheelchair. As Marshall rendered aid, Zavala’s girlfriend, Javiliz Cruz-Robles, who was beside him on the ride, told the doctor that he had metal rods in his back from a previous spinal surgery.
“Dr. Marshall explained that she did not believe that just because