Rider Sues Disneyland for Injury to Brain

A San Diego woman has filed suit against Disneyland, contending she suffered brain injuries after riding on the theme park’s Indiana Jones Adventure ride.

Deborah Bynum, 45, alleged in the lawsuit that the ride “is fast, turbulent, combining the ups and downs of a roller coaster with jarring jumps, drops and unpredictable movements.” She said she now suffers from headaches, memory loss and a variety of other ailments.

The suit also names Walt Disney Imagineering, Walt Disney Attractions and Walt Disney Imagineering and Research as co-defendants. Although the statute of limitations had run out to file suit, Disney has agreed to extend the deadline, said Barry Novack, Bynum’s attorney.

Disney spokesman Ray Gomez said he was unable to comment on the lawsuit because he had not seen it.

Last year, Disneyland agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to settle a lawsuit brought by a woman who suffered a brain hemorrhage in 1995 while on the Indiana Jones Adventure. At the time, Disney said it was making no safety modifications to the ride as a result of the case.

Bynum, a mother of two, alleges that she felt throbbing pressure in her head about an hour after she and her husband got off the ride in November 1998. Four days later, Bynum passed out in her home from the excruciating pain of her injuries, Novack said. She ended up in the emergency room, was diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage and underwent brain surgery that same day, Novack said.