Parents of Child Hurt at Disneyland to Aid Probe

The parents of Brandon Zucker--the 4 1/2-year-old boy critically injured on the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin in Disneyland three weeks ago--have agreed to participate in a state investigation to help protect all children on amusement park rides, their attorney said Thursday.

“They are the type of people who want to cooperate with the state to help other children out there,” said Thomas V. Girardi, a Los Angeles lawyer.

The Zuckers will probably meet with state inspectors in the next couple of weeks, Girardi said.

Investigators are working on the logistics for the meeting, said Richard Stephens, spokesman for the state division of Occupational Safety and Health, which is conducting the inquiry into the accident. State officials have not demanded a meeting before now out of respect for family members, who are focused on the boy’s medical condition.

Stephens said investigators also are still waiting for Disneyland to forward its reports on the accident.

Disneyland spokesman Ray Gomez said Thursday that the park would provide all relevant information to the state.

“We are committed to cooperating fully with them and we intend to do that,” Gomez said. “If a report hasn’t been provided, then it will.”

Brandon is still in a coma at UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange. He is on a ventilator, although he can breathe on his own. The 45-pound boy suffered a torn liver, spleen and diaphragm, a collapsed left lung and a fractured pelvis in the Sept. 22 accident.