The California coaster remains closed while state safety officials investigate, as earlier injury cases bring additional scrutiny to the attraction.
VALENCIA, Calif. — Two women suffered severe brain injuries and underwent emergency surgery six days apart after riding the X2 roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in July, while the attraction remains closed and California safety officials investigate what happened.
Pamela Guillen, 40, rode X2 on July 5 while visiting the Southern California theme park with her daughter, according to a CNN investigation that reviewed medical records, court documents and injury reports. Six days later, 25-year-old Naomi Greer-Wilkinson rode the same coaster and also suffered a serious medical emergency. Both women were taken to a hospital and underwent emergency brain surgery. The cases have raised questions about the ride’s safety history and why X2 continued operating after the first incident.
Guillen was visiting Magic Mountain for her daughter’s 16th birthday when she boarded X2. After leaving the ride, she became seriously ill and lost consciousness, according to her family and medical information reviewed by CNN. Doctors found an acute subdural hematoma, a serious form of bleeding around the brain, along with pressure on the brain. Surgeons performed an emergency operation to relieve that pressure. Guillen survived and later regained her ability to walk, but she has said she continues to experience headaches, fatigue and other effects from the injury.
Greer-Wilkinson boarded X2 on July 11, six days after Guillen was hospitalized. She collapsed after getting off the coaster and was taken to the same hospital, according to her family. She also underwent emergency brain surgery. Her parents said she had been healthy before the incident. CNN reported this week that Greer-Wilkinson remained hospitalized and faced an uncertain recovery. Her medical condition was described in recent reporting as significantly more serious than Guillen’s, and no firm timetable for her recovery has been announced.
Doctors who treated the women concluded in medical findings reviewed by CNN that their severe brain injuries resulted from a rapid acceleration-and-deceleration event experienced while riding X2. That medical assessment connects the injuries to forces experienced during the ride, but California regulators have not released a final finding on what caused the incidents. Six Flags did not answer CNN’s detailed questions about the two cases. In court filings from earlier X2 litigation, the company has maintained that the coaster received daily inspections and disputed claims that normal operation would cause traumatic brain injuries in properly restrained riders.
X2 stopped operating July 12, the day after Greer-Wilkinson’s ride. A Six Flags spokesperson previously confirmed the closure, and the company’s current Magic Mountain website continues to list X2 among attractions that are closed. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which oversees permanent amusement rides in the state, opened an inspection involving the reported July 5 incident. Cal/OSHA said earlier this month that its inspection was still underway and that additional details were not available while the review continued. No public reopening date has been announced.
The coaster is one of Magic Mountain’s best-known thrill rides. Six Flags describes X2 as a ride with seats that rotate 360 degrees independently as the train travels along the track. The company says riders descend about 200 feet and reach speeds of up to 76 mph while moving through drops, flips and two features known as raven turns. The attraction originally opened as X in 2002 and was later relaunched as X2. The unusual rotating-seat design has made it one of the park’s signature rides for more than two decades.
The July emergencies have also renewed attention on the 2022 death of Christopher Hawley, a 22-year-old San Diego State University graduate. Hawley rode X2 on June 23, 2022, became unsteady after leaving the coaster and collapsed, according to allegations in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by his parents. He died the next day. A medical examiner determined that Hawley died from blunt head trauma sustained in a park ride accident. His parents sued Magic Mountain LLC and S&S Worldwide Inc., the company that supplied replacement coaster trains. The defendants disputed liability.
That wrongful death case was settled this month before a trial that had been scheduled to begin in September. The settlement terms were not disclosed. S&S Worldwide maintained in court filings that its coaster trains operated as designed and that Magic Mountain was responsible for maintaining the attraction. Magic Mountain had also disputed claims made in the lawsuit. Resolving the case through a settlement does not establish legal fault or determine the disputed allegations at trial.
A separate X2 injury case also moved forward this week. Sheila Katerelos and her husband sued after she allegedly suffered a traumatic brain injury while riding X2 in February 2020. Magic Mountain and Six Flags were dismissed from that case in 2024, while a California appeals court later reinstated S&S Worldwide as a defendant after finding that disputed factual issues remained. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has now scheduled trial for Aug. 16, 2027. The defendants have disputed claims that the coaster’s forces or design caused Katerelos’ injuries.
Questions remain about what information Six Flags had between Guillen’s July 5 hospitalization and Greer-Wilkinson’s ride on July 11, and when park officials learned doctors believed Guillen’s injury was associated with forces experienced on X2. The available public record does not answer those questions. X2 remains closed as of Saturday, and California safety officials have not released their final inspection findings or said when their investigation will conclude.
Author note: Last updated August 29, 2026.