Disneyland’s Mystery Rider Had Been Enjoying Birthday

Four days after a Romanian man was found unconscious beside the tracks of a Disneyland ride, he remains in a hospital and is still unable to remember what happened, his cousin said.

Grigore Grigorean had gone to Disneyland Saturday to celebrate his 44th birthday. He does not recollect the events of that night other than getting on the twisting, curving Big Thunder Mountain ride, said his cousin, Constantine Antemie, 34, of Fullerton.

Grigorean said Wednesday at UCI Medical Center here that he is too tired to talk and “not feeling well at all, just very tired.”

A ride operator found Grigorean at 9 p.m. Saturday on a catwalk next to the track, according to a Disneyland spokesman. How he came to be there remains a mystery.

Grigorean “doesn’t know” what happened, Antemie said.

“The first time I saw him (on Sunday),” Antemie said, “he said, ‘Constantine, where am I now, and what am I doing here? I feel pain and I don’t know what happened.’ ”

Paramedics said Grigorean may have suddenly tried to exit the train that speeds through an artificial mountain, but the Disneyland official said no witnesses said they saw him riding the roller coaster or falling from it.

Helen Haney, 59, of Fullerton has been accompanying Antemie on his hospital visits. According to her, Disneyland officials have not spoken to Grigorean but have contacted Antemie.

“They have told us that as soon as Grigore was well enough, they would talk to him,” Haney said Wednesday.

Grigorean, who has been living in Orange County since 1989 on a visitor’s visa and has been working part time as a construction worker, does not want to talk about the accident, Antemie said.

Rather, he has spent his time inquiring about his wife, Maria, who is in Romania, awaiting a visa to visit him, Antemie added.

Hospital officials said Grigorean has bruises and minor cuts on his right thigh.