Zwemparken: Typhoon Lagoon en Blizzard Beach
Antwoord met CitaatAutopsy reveals girl did not suffer injury
By Anthony Colarossi and Jerry W. Jackson | Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted August 6, 2005
The 12-year-old girl who died Thursday after collapsing at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon did not suffer a physical injury before her death, according to an autopsy conducted Friday morning.
The autopsy "revealed no signs of trauma," said Steve Hanson, chief investigator of the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner's Office.
"The cause of death is pending additional testing," he said. "There was nothing that stood out as being the cause of death, anatomically. She didn't die from physical injury. That's what trauma is."
It could now take at least four to six weeks to conduct the more sophisticated testing required to determine the cause of death, Hanson said.
The investigator told the Daily Press in Newport News, Va. -- where the girl, Jerra Kirby, lived -- that the death "is probably some type of medical issue. It's probably going to be a natural death."
Jerra died after passing out at the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon. She was not in the water at the time. Her relatives told police the girl -- a regular on the honor roll at her elementary and middle schools -- had no known medical conditions.
It was the third time since June that a young person has fallen critically ill while visiting Disney.
Florida's chief investigator for rides and attractions said Friday that Walt Disney World reported Jerra's death to the state because of the "serious nature" of the incident, but the Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection likely will not investigate.
"From all we know at the moment it does not appear to be ride related," said Allan Harrison, chief investigator. The agency inspects water parks along with fairs and small attractions, but Disney and other major parks are exempt by state law, Harrison said.
Disney asked the state to check out the Tower of Terror ride in July when a teen from England collapsed and was hospitalized with bleeding in the brain after riding the simulated elevator ride. The ride was found to be operating normally.
In June, a Pennsylvania boy collapsed on Epcot's Mission: Space ride and later died. Disney's inspections showed no signs of ride malfunction.
Disney and other large water-park operators such as SeaWorld do file incident reports with the state, Harrison said, when water-park incidents are serious enough to warrant a trip to a hospital, just as the parks do for mechanical rides.
The most serious water-park incident reported to the state by Disney since 2001 was in February 2003, when a 31-year-old woman fell on the steps to a pool at Typhoon Lagoon, fractured an ankle and later died of a pulmonary embolism.
Three other Typhoon Lagoon incident reports were filed in recent years, including one 46-year-old man who had a stroke, according to family members. Five incidents were recorded at Blizzard Beach, another Disney water park, from 2001 to June 2005, according to the most recent state records. Most of the cases involved adults with bumps and sprains but one was an 11-year-old boy who reportedly suffered a seizure.
In Newport News on Friday, Jerra's family members could not be reached. A woman who identified herself as a family friend at the girl's home would not comment.
Jerra was a regular on the honor roll at Hines Middle School and at Watkins Elementary School. In her most recent yearbook picture, she's shown smiling, wearing braids and a half-ponytail.
On the day she died, Jerra's name was published in the Daily Press in a list of honor roll students at Hines. Her name was listed under the "All A's" category.
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