Her mother, Artemis Greer, recalled the chaos and anger she witnessed at the hospital after her daughter arrived.
“I do remember one of the surgeons storming through the ER and yelling: ‘How many is it this month? They’ve got to shut that ride down!’ He was furious,” Artemis said.
For Naomi’s parents, the question of how their daughter was able to get onto the attraction in the first place has become a painful part of the ordeal.
“Naomi should have never, ever in a million years, even had the option to get on that ride. It’s absolutely insane,” her mother said.
But Naomi’s case is not the first serious medical emergency connected to the X2 ride.
Another woman, 40-year-old Pamela Guillen, was treated at the same hospital after riding the roller coaster. According to VT, Guillen struck her head multiple times against the ride’s headrest while on the attraction and later began vomiting.
Doctors eventually confirmed that she had suffered a brain hemorrhage. Like Naomi, Guillen required emergency surgery after the incident.
The medical professionals who treated both women later provided a statement to CNN regarding their assessment of the injuries.
“In our professional opinion, the severe brain injuries requiring emergent neurosurgical attention were the result of a traumatic rapid acceleration-deceleration event experienced while on the X2 ride,” the doctors said in an email.
Their statement specifically linked the severe brain injuries requiring urgent neurosurgical treatment to the rapid acceleration and deceleration experienced while riding X2.
The incidents have raised questions about the physical forces passengers are exposed to while riding the attraction, particularly given the seriousness of the injuries suffered by both women.
Six Flags has not publicly commented on the incidents involving Naomi and Pamela.
However, the company has previously defended the X2 roller coaster in court.
In legal proceedings, Six Flags argued that riders are warned about the risks associated with amusement rides. The company pointed to a warning sign telling passengers that “there are inherent risks in the participation in or on any amusement ride or attraction.”
Six Flags’ attorneys have also argued that the X2 is regularly tested and maintained and that the physical forces experienced by riders are not strong enough to cause a traumatic brain injury to a “normal” rider who uses the attraction “as instructed.”
For Naomi’s family, however, the consequences have been devastating.
What began as a roller coaster ride ended with a 25-year-old woman undergoing emergency brain surgery, being placed into an induced coma and remaining on a ventilator for two months.
As Naomi continues her medical battle, her family is left confronting the lasting impact of the injury and raising difficult questions about the safety of the attraction that preceded it.