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The Kingda Ka rollercoaster at Six Flags Great Adventure rockets riders from 0 to 128 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds and shoots them 45 stories into the sky, before sending them back to earth in a 270-degree spiral that’s “not recommended for wimps,” according to the amusement park’s website.
A Monmouth County doctor wishes Six Flags had been more specific about those who shouldn’t tangle with their popular ride.
Dr. Christopher Fabricant claims in a lawsuit that the amusement park failed to alert him that Kingda Ka was not safe for taller riders such as himself and says a defective design left him with lifelong injuries.
Fabricant says he suffered severe, whiplash-type damage to his neck and spine on Kingda Ka and is suing Six Flags Great Adventure, along with the designers, builders and installers of the seats and restraints used on the attraction.
The ride is touted as the tallest rollercoaster in the world and the fastest in North America.
A spokeswoman for Six Flags noted that the company does not comment on legal matters, but said that “the safety and well-being of our guests is always our top priority.”
Fabricant, who maintains a surgical practice in Neptune, visited Six Flags in Jackson with his son and a few of his son’s friends in April 2017, according to the Superior Court lawsuit.
When he climbed into his seat for the Kingda Ka, Fabricant asked for an attendant’s help because his harness seemed too tight against his shoulders. The attendant readjusted the harness to a more comfortable setting.
The ride began and, as occupants were sent 400 feet skyward, the harness jerked sharply downward on the top of Fabricant’s shoulders and locked tighter as the ride continued.
The doctor “suffered excruciating, unbearable pain in his shoulders …” that lasted until the harness was unlocked, according to the suit.
Fabricant’s troubles weren’t over, though, and the extent of his injuries became apparent over the next several weeks.
He suffered an acute rupture of at least two intervertebral discs in his cervical spine and the ruptured discs “spilled their contents into his spinal canal,” leading to inflammation and swelling, according to the suit. His spinal cord was compressed as a result of these injuries, leading to nervous tissue damage in various parts of his body.
Fabricant reported numbness in his hands and feet, burning pain in his back and extremities and weakness and “spasticity” in his lower extremities.
Less than a month after the ride, he underwent surgery to decompress his spinal cord and to fuse the vertebra adjacent to the ruptured discs. He will need at least one more surgery.
“His is virtually certain to suffer residual neurological and musculoskeletal deficits and disabilities from these injuries for the remainder of his natural life,” the suit states.
In addition to claiming the design of the seats and harnesses was defective, Fabricant accuses the defendants of negligence for failing to warn taller riders, including those whose upper bodies extend above the rear of the seat backs, that they cannot safely ride Kingda Ka.
Fabricant is 6 feet 2 inches tall, but notes in the lawsuit that the maximum allowed height for Kingda Ka riders is 77 inches, which put him within the supposed safety threshold.
The seat and harness contained no visible warnings and the ride attendant failed to alert him that because his head extended above the rear of the seat he faced a danger of whiplash-type injuries from the “extreme speed and torquing forces” generated by Kingda Ka, the suit contends.
The suit also notes that Fabricant is “trim and fit, his weight was ideal at 190 pounds, and his body proportions were typical.”
In addition to Six Flags Great Adventure, the lawsuit names Intamin Amusement Rides Int. Corp. Est., based in Lichtenstein, Intamin LLC, based in Maryland, and Ingenieur-Buro Stengel GmbH, based in Munich, Germany. The German company designed the Kingda Ka’s seats and harnesses, according to the suit, while the other companies had some role in the construction and installation of the seats and harnesses.
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