ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A newly-released 911 call from Orange County Fire Rescue shows some of the first reactions to the then-unfolding situation surrounding Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, the Epic Universe guest who died last month after riding a roller coaster.
Rodriguez Zavala died Sept. 17 after riding Stardust Racers, a 133-foot-tall roller coaster at Universal Orlando’s newest theme park. He was pronounced dead at a hospital after being found unresponsive in his restraint. A medical examiner later determined Rodriguez Zavala suffered "multiple blunt impact injuries," as well as that his death was an accident.
An incident report obtained by News 6 states Rodriguez Zavala had a “preexisting spinal injury,” though it’s unclear whether that contributed. He was 32 years old.
News 6 has since received a 911 call from Orange County Fire Rescue that shows an ambulance being called to the theme park.
The following is a transcript of most of the call, set between discussions of which gate to arrive at:
DISPATCHER: What’s going on there?
CALLER: I have a guest on our ride vehicle who was called in as a head laceration. Heavy bleeding. Our health-service units aren’t quite on scene yet. Security is requesting an ambulance for the guest. I don’t have a lot of the information.
DISPATCHER: Is security on scene?
CALLER: Not yet, it’s just the attractions management. Based on what I can see on video, they do not look to be responsive and the attraction’s team members have connected the AED (automated external defibrillator). Doesn’t look like they’ve done any shocks yet, but-
DISPATCHER: Have an AED?
CALLER: Yeah. It’s attached, I can’t tell if it’s actually been used or not yet though.
The ride remained closed until it reopened Saturday, doing so in line with updated safety and accessibility guides for Epic Universe, Universal Studios Florida, and Islands of Adventure. The legal team for Rodriguez Zavala’s family includes prominent civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump, who spoke Tuesday to condemn Universal Orlando’s decision to reopen Stardust Racers before his experts could inspect it, calling it a slap in the face.
“We trusted Universal and, like Kevin’s trust was betrayed, apparently ours was, too,” Crump said, explaining why he didn’t get an injunction. “We thought our experts were going to get to investigate before they opened back up. They told us that they were going to do that.”
[WATCH: Attorney, family of man who died after riding Stardust Racers condemn reopening of attraction]