Two women sustained life-threatening brain haemorrhages in the same week after riding a roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California last month. According to reports, both women required brain surgery, with one of them still in a coma as of the time of writing.
The ride linked to the severe injuries is ‘X2’, a roller coaster that travels at speeds of up to 76mph, with seats that rotate 360 degrees forward and backward while hurtling riders down a 200-foot drop and a sequence of half-loops.
The Six Flags theme park describes the X2 as a ‘rite of passage for the ultimate daredevil’, but if online reports are to be believed, the attraction has a checkered reputation tied to numerous alleged incidents of passengers suffering considerable injuries. The incidents are said to have resulted in multiple hospitalisations and two deaths over almost two decades.
X2 has been closed since the middle of July, 2026, though Six Flags have not revealed specifically why.
The most recent cases of riders coming to harm involve Hawaii resident Pamela Guillen, 40, and Los Angeles resident Naomi Greer-Wilkinson, 25, both of whom needed emergency brain surgery after riding X2 within days of each other in the first half of July.
Guillen had been anxious about riding the coaster in the first place, but wanted to accompany her 16-year-old daughter. She hit her head multiple times on the headrest during the ride, began vomiting once the car returned to the station, and lost consciousness shortly after.
A CT scan revealed a severe subdural hematoma and brain compression.
She woke from a coma two weeks later with a shaved and stapled head, with no memory of what had happened to her.
Just six days after Guillen’s injury, Noami Greer-Wilkinson boarded the ride with her twin brother and younger sister. She lost consciousness soon after and was rushed into emergency brain surgery. Her family says doctors told them to prepare for the worst.
She remains in a coma on a ventilator more than a month later.
Her mother, Artemis Greer, told CNN, “Naomi should have never ever in a million years even had the option to get on that ride.” Her father added that whoever made the decision to keep the ride running has “a lot to answer for.”
The medical team that treated both women wrote in an email obtained by CNN that they believe the X2 ride was directly to blame.
“In our professional opinion, the severe brain injuries requiring emergent neurosurgical attention were the result of a traumatic rapid acceleration-deceleration event experienced while on the X2 ride,” the email reads.
They went on to describe the injuries suffered by Guillen and Greer-Wilkinson as similar to those they would expect to see after a high-speed car collision or violent fall.
CNN’s report linked the X2 to several other cases of traumatic brain injuries stretching back over a near-20-year period.
In 2021, Lucy Alvarez, 46, was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury after riding X2, having hit the back of her head hard on the ride’s headrest.
Alvarez continued experiencing dizziness and head pain even after returning home to San Diego, and an ER visit confirmed a traumatic subdural hematoma. According to her attorney, the injury forced her to abandon nursing school and has left her dealing with memory loss, balance problems, and chronic migraines. Her case is set to go to trial in October 2027.
In 2022, 22-year-old Christopher Hawley rode X2 with his brother and cousin. All three hit their heads on the seats during the ride. Hawley complained of feeling lightheaded before losing consciousness. His cousin later recalled in a court deposition: “I will never forget the fear from the look he gave me as his eyes closed.”
A CT scan at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital revealed catastrophic brain trauma. Hawley died the following day.
Six Flags has confirmed only that “the ride remains closed at this time,” without addressing what prompted the shutdown or when it might reopen.
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