Boy Hurt at Disneyland Goes to Rehab Center

Brandon Zucker, the 4-year-old who suffered severe brain damage after being pinned beneath a Disneyland ride, moved Friday from UC Irvine Medical Center to an undisclosed rehabilitation facility.

As the Zucker family begins the newest leg of a long medical journey, one its members still pray will end positively, the family attorney escalated his sharp criticism of Disneyland.

Brandon fell from the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin attraction on Sept. 22 and was trapped beneath the heavy “taxicab” for about 10 minutes. When he was freed, the 45-pound boy had no pulse and was not breathing.

UC Irvine Medical Center spokeswoman Kim Pine confirmed that the boy was transferred Friday to an acute rehabilitation facility.

Los Angeles attorney Thomas Girardi said the brain damage is severe but that the family still hopes for some recovery.

“Nobody can predict at this stage of the game what the final outcome will be,” Girardi said. “He’s a fighter. There’s no question about that.”

Girardi said the boy’s parents, Victoria and David Zucker of Canyon Country in northern Los Angeles County, have maintained a vigil at the hospital.

The family is not bitter, he said, because “their sadness overwhelms any anger.”

Zucker contends that Disneyland employees were inadequately trained and inappropriately loaded Brandon into the ride, seating him closest to the cutout door. He said the safety lap bar was enough to hold in the largest person on the ride, Victoria Zucker, but not the children seated beside her.

Girardi said the emergency response was too slow and reiterated witnesses’ statements that they had been restrained by Disneyland employees, even though they were trying to aid a frantic and pleading David Zucker.

Disneyland has repeatedly denied fault in the accident, pointing out that 20 million people have ridden Roger Rabbit without injury. After the accident, Disneyland conducted safety tests and determined that neither the lap bar nor loading procedures had been a factor, spokesman Ray Gomez said.

“The tests show that if Brandon was sitting down, even with the lap bar up, he could not have been thrown from the car, regardless of whether it was spinning or the direction,” Gomez said.

Gomez also defended the Disneyland employees who were working on the ride that night as “very experienced” and “among the best cast members at Disneyland.”

He said the emergency response was quick and appropriate.

The state division of Occupational Safety and Health continues to investigate the accident.