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Guest dies after becoming unresponsive on Stardust Racers at Epic Universe

Wheelchair or not somethings gone horribly wrong.

These coasters should be designed for anyone to be able to safely ride.

The blunt force trauma is the curve ball here that suggests this is more than an underlying health issue.

Anyway I know it’s easy to speculate and we want to know what’s happened but I guess it’s time to let the investigation take place.
 
Just my thoughts on this:

This is a horrible thing that happened and all my condolences go out to the family.

It might have been a mix of things... Most people in wheelchairs take blood thinners to avoid thrombosis anywhere in the body.

I use blood thinners myself and even the slightest bump of the head can cause inside bleeding. So even the slightest bump on the coaster could have caused him to pass out and then further bumps can cause internal brain bleeding which can be life threatening.

I assume we have to wait for the results of the investigation.
 
To echo what others have said, I would be wary of what that TikToker Tommy Italiano says, it seems like he' s been using this entire situation to try and boost his own name if I'm honest.

Really sad but hopefully the investigation will end/develop soon and we can see what has happened. I'm leaving for Orlando on Wednesday and I doubt I'll get the chance to ride this now but I just hope it was nothing to do with negligence/poor design. I can't imagine how awful this all must be for the family, especially with all of these wild speculation and victim blaming online.
 
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It sounds most likely that the 'piece of metal' this guy has mentioned and was picked up by the media was in fact a manual restraint release bar used to open the restraint once the train was back in the station.
 
Nick13 said:
It sounds most likely that the 'piece of metal' this guy has mentioned and was picked up by the media was in fact a manual restraint release bar used to open the restraint once the train was back in the station.
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Battery packs will be used on those trains im sure
 
Sorry to keep posting about this but it’s a morbidly interesting story. The official line now is he had pre existing spinal issues/injuries which caused the accident.

Not sure how this explains the ‘blunt impacts’ because surely this would happen to anybody who goes unconscious on Stardust Racers. But it’s relieving to hear the ride was not at fault and the family can get some closure on what actually happened.
 
YoshiPoseidon said:
Not sure how this explains the ‘blunt impacts’ because surely this would happen to anybody who goes unconscious on Stardust Racers.
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Mack has used a bunch of different grab bar designs on their launched coasters but this is the first that is just a fully exposed bar with no rubber stopper;
E988C442-5323-4A7D-AE6E-6EDD535E2FF2.jpeg

My take is that this wouldn't normally be a safety hazard, as quite simply any qualifiable riders can brace themselves to stay upright AND if they do fully bend over, they would be touching the bar with their chest instead of head. The exceptions would be if someone below the height requirement was riding, or someone who's spine/body was capable of contorting to make this impact happen. Even then it still wouldn't quite hit their head, but rather other underlying health conditions could turn repeated chest impacts fatal. The investigation noted that they tried to revive him using CPR.

Honestly on some level it is disrespectful to speculate on how such a tragedy could happen, but I also find this very morbidly interesting as this is likely a very unique scenario. I don't think it's as open and shut as say letting someone with no legs onto an airtime reliant, lap-bar only hypercoaster. Multiple factors had to coincide to allow the rider on board and for the rider to pass as he did.

In terms of special needs access to a coaster however, it does get pretty grimy in relation to what's considered safety or discrimination. A few years back, a waterpark I used to work at disallowed a one-armed man from riding a tube slide, as both the manufacturer Proslide Technology and the region's Technical Standards & Safety Authority mandated that you needed two hands to hold onto the handles. Despite all this, he took them to court and won. The opposite is actually happening in Universal's case, where the family just hired the attorney who represented Tyre Sampson's family after the Orlando Freefall incident. Point is however that would they have responded the same way if they denied him access? Universal has a good system for handling cases like this, I assume they wouldn't have let him on if they were given reason to believe that there was substantial risk.
 
I was able to test during a breakdown on Hyperia yesterday. It is possible to hit your head to the handle. I don't think it was possible to hit your chest to it, but I could be wrong. The handle is the only thing you could realistically hit.

Stardust not having that rubber pad on the handle is seeming like a poor decision if you ask me.
 
Assuming that handlebar is the cause:

It’s morbid to say, but Universal and Mack will be in a bit of a spot on that as adding any additional padding, or changing the design on future rides, can (will) be used as an admission of addressing a fault for liability purposes.

If it’s seen as a design fault, I would hope that they would take it on the chin and address it… rather than bury it.
 
Having looked at both the handle bars on Stardust Racers & Hyperia (photos below).

I wound’t say the handle bars on Stardust Racers has an inherent design issue.
The handle is tucked to the front of the lap bar restraint and while yes, it could cause you some damage I would of thought you would have to do some to physically contort yourself to hit it.

The Hyperia handlebar is on top of the lap bar restraint and although covered in some form of padding material it would still likely cause some serious damage if you were to hit it while being unconscious.

It’s also worth noting at this point that Thorpe Park have updated the accessibility policy for Hypeia.

I can’t find the official wording; but it basically states all riders need to be physically able to support their body against the back headrest / seat and be able to withstand the forces throughout the duration of the ride.
And it also says about being able to walk down the lift hill unaided if there was a lift hill evacuation.
 

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ZeroG said:
I was able to test during a breakdown on Hyperia yesterday. It is possible to hit your head to the handle. I don't think it was possible to hit your chest to it, but I could be wrong. The handle is the only thing you could realistically hit.

Stardust not having that rubber pad on the handle is seeming like a poor decision if you ask me.
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But the Stardust Racers handle looks way shorter than the long ones on Hyperia. Looking at photos (haven't ridden SR myself) I can't imagine how anyone would get their head into that position even in a completely limp state, it's further than half way up the thigh. (The plastic bit on Hyperia's metal handle is really hard anyway and I certainly wouldn't want to bang my head on it...)

I just tried and am able to full on bang my face and forehead on my knees when seated (to the complete disinterest of everyone else in the coffee shop - welcome to London) so that's a possibility, but it looks like this guy might not have been able to fold that far over with his body shape. The position of the restraint would possibly also prevent this on the ride but hard to say.

It's so strange that the coroner/local authorities chose to immediately release certain limited, unhelpful details about this, that seem almost designed to raise alarm and a bunch of questions. The emergency responder conversation they released (why?) said Kevin had a 'laceration'. Why did they feel the need to get everyone speculating about mystery blunt impacts and lacerations? I don't get how this is in the public interest at all.
 
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apnews.com

Woman sues Universal Orlando over injuries from same roller coaster in which man died after ride

A woman has sued Universal Orlando Resort, claiming she was injured on a roller coaster at its newest theme park.
apnews.com apnews.com

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A woman has sued Universal Orlando Resort, claiming she was injured on a roller coaster at its newest theme park. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, comes a week after a man died from blunt impact injuries after going on the same ride.

Sandi Streets filed the negligence lawsuit in state court in Orlando, days after the death of 32-year-old Kevin Rodriguez Zavala in a separate incident.

Streets said she was invited to Universal’s Epic Universe theme park just a few weeks before it officially opened to the public in May and went on the dual-launch coaster, which reaches speeds up to 62 mph (100 kph). On the ride, her head shook violently and slammed into her seat’s headrest, giving her permanent injuries, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says Streets has suffered disability, medical care expenses, loss of the ability to work and an exacerbation of a preexisting condition since going on the ride. Her attorney, Nicholas Spetsas, didn’t immediately respond Thursday to an email seeking further details on her injuries.

The ride failed to properly restrain her head, and the theme park failed to adequately warn her of “the unsafe and unreasonably dangerous condition” of the roller coaster, the lawsuit says.

Universal didn’t respond Thursday to an email seeking comment about the lawsuit.
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cookie said:
apnews.com

Woman sues Universal Orlando over injuries from same roller coaster in which man died after ride

A woman has sued Universal Orlando Resort, claiming she was injured on a roller coaster at its newest theme park.
apnews.com apnews.com
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The woman who made a claim has "voluntarily dismissed" (withdrawn?) her lawsuit but it sounds like she may have received a settlement from Universal:

www.instagram.com

Universally Addicted on Instagram: "A guest who claimed she was injured on the Stardust Racers ride at Universal’s Epic Universe has voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit after reaching a settlement with Universal. The settlement amount remains undisclos

769 likes, 55 comments - universallyaddictedfl on September 27, 2025: "A guest who claimed she was injured on the Stardust Racers ride at Universal’s Epic Universe has voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit after reaching a settlement with Universal. The settlement amount remains undisclosed...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
 
Universal opened Pandora's box by paying that lady anything. Now, there are a whole lot more claiming to have sustained injuries during the launches according to that lying piece of **** attorney. Universal should instead counter-sue the Zavala family for all the lost revenue caused by the unnecessary closing of Stardust Racers.

Source
 
I think counter-sueing the Zavala family would be in incredibly poor taste, and also not great for their PR. The man did die, after all, and questions will be asked whether Universal should have allowed him to ride.

Yes, it does seem that people are milking it now, but this is a symptom of the US's legal culture. However, punishing the Zavala family is categorically not the right thing to do.
 
Yeah I think counter sueing would be a little cruel, the lawsuit is ridiculous in my opinion, but people seem to sue for anything and everything in the Land of the free. The death is horrific nethertheless.

I think Universal/Mack should win the suit due to this ride model not being new whatsoever. The same restraints (I believe so anyway) have been used since 2009, it seems farfetched to think that they would suddenly be a hazard 16 years later. I haven't ridden this ride but I presume it's intense, but rides like Voltron have similar restraints and not an issue.

I think this will blow over, though it seems the press/gp are using this as a "YOU SHOULD HAVE A SHOULDER HARNESS" PSA. I guess Intamin had this with the disabled individuals on both Superman's who sadly passed. I hope it doesn't mean any change to the restraint, or even if there is, maybe just a seatbelt to appease the press/GP.
 
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