Six Flags Magic Mountain has kept X2 shut for more than a month after two riders reported serious brain injuries within days of each other in July. One of them, Pamela Guillen, says the ride jolted her so hard that her head banged against the seat’s headrest before she lost consciousness.
Guillen, who rode X2 in July, was later found on a CT scan to have a severe subdural hematoma and brain compression. She now deals with headaches and takes medications to prevent seizures, saying she is trying to get through each day without sinking into grief over who she was before the ride.
The closure matters now because Six Flags has said X2 has been shut since 12 July, and the ride remains off limits while questions linger over what happened on a coaster that can reach 76 mph and spins its seats 360 degrees. Naomi Greer-Wilkinson rode it days after Guillen and also lost consciousness; she was hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury and remains in a coma.
That is only part of the pressure on the park. Six Flags settled a wrongful death lawsuit on Thursday brought by the family of Christopher Hawley, who was 22 when he died in 2022 from a brain injury allegedly linked to X2. The company had denied the allegations, and the settlement terms were not disclosed.
There is still no public explanation for what specific part of the ride, or what part of the way it is inspected and operated, led to injuries that appear so similar. A review of the ride’s history found reported injuries stretching back two decades, including two deaths among the cases tied to X2, and the track record is now hard to separate from the ride’s reputation as a daredevil attraction.
For Guillen, the larger story has already collapsed into something simpler and more immediate: she is living with the aftermath while the ride stays closed. Whether X2 returns at all will depend on what investigators and the park decide the injuries mean, and that question is now bigger than the coaster itself.
