As the Stardust Racers roller coaster sped downward in the first descent of a mid-September ride, Kevin Rodriguez Zavala was flung forward, his head slamming into the seat in front of him repeatedly. Blood from his wounds splattered his girlfriend, who tried to hold him back while screaming for help.

Dr. Anna Marshall, a vacationing medical doctor standing in line to board the Epic Universe ride, said that when the coaster returned and stopped, she heard someone screaming and ran to help. The ride staff seemed “frozen,” she later told sheriff’s deputies. And she was shocked by Zavala’s condition.

He was unconscious and one of his legs “was completely broken in half and resting on the back of the chair,” the doctor said. The 32-year-old would be pronounced dead at a hospital later tha

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