{"id":9574,"date":"2025-10-18T07:54:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T07:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/9574\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T07:54:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T07:54:28","slug":"help-help-cause-of-death-revealed-for-guest-who-rode-stardust-racers-at-epic-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/9574\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Help! Help!\u2019 Cause of death revealed for guest who rode Stardust Racers at Epic Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 In the wake of a guest dying after riding an Epic Universe roller coaster<\/a> on Wednesday, the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner has released the cause of death.<\/p>\n

The guest \u2014 identified as 32-year-old Kevin Rodriguez Zavala \u2014 was found unresponsive after riding Stardust Racers, prompting first responders to take him to a hospital, Orange County deputies announced.<\/p>\n

Zavala was pronounced dead at the hospital, however, Orange County fire officials said that he hadn\u2019t fallen from the roller coaster.<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Video shared with News 6 shows what appears to be an unresponsive rider on Stardust Racers]<\/p>\n

Orange-Osceola Chief Medical Examiner Joshua Stephany told News 6 that Thursday\u2019s autopsy revealed the cause of death as \u201cmultiple blunt impact injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe manner of death is accident,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

A Universal spokesperson provided News 6 with the following statement on Thursday evening:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are devastated by this tragic event and extend our sincerest sympathies to the guest\u2019s loved ones. We are fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation. The attraction remains closed.\u201d<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Watch News 6\u2019s previous reporting on Zavala\u2019s death]<\/p>\n

An incident report obtained by News 6 on Friday<\/a> reveals that Zavala had a \u201cpreexisting spinal injury,\u201d though it\u2019s unclear whether that contributed to the accident. <\/p>\n

Despite that, Universal Orlando\u2019s safety guide<\/a> shows that Stardust Racers is \u201cnot for guests with back, neck or similar physical conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow guest Maria Fernandez, who said she was one of the dueling racers at the same time as Zavala, recounted what happened to News 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was on the ride, the travel finishes, and one girl starts to say, \u2018Help! Help! Help!\u2019\u201d she explained. \u201c…The girl was screaming, and we didn\u2019t understand what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the ride came to a stop, security began to usher riders off the roller coaster, Fernandez added. <\/p>\n

[BELOW: Listen to News 6 reporter Mike Valente\u2019s full interview with Fernandez]<\/p>\n

She said that Zavala appeared to be slumped over, bleeding, with his leg seemingly broken.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if he was dead in that moment, but I think yes,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

Stardust Racers has been one of the most popular attractions at Epic Universe since it opened in May.<\/p>\n

The ride is a dual-launch racing coaster that reaches speeds up to 62 mph and reaches a height of 133 feet. It\u2019s described as Universal\u2019s most thrilling coaster experience with unique maneuvers along 5,000 feet of track.<\/p>\n

Universal Studios’ Ride Guys give a sneak peek of Stardust Racers at Epic Universe. (Universal Orlando Resort)<\/p>\n

The Universal App shows the ride is closed on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Universal Orlando Resorts opened Epic Universe in May. The park has five themed sections and a 500-room hotel.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first major, traditional theme park to open in Florida since 1999, when Universal Islands of Adventure debuted, though Universal opened a themed Orlando water park, Volcano Bay, in 2017.<\/p>\n

The addition of Epic Universe brought the total number of parks at the Florida resort to four, including Universal Studios.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s largest theme parks are exempt from state safety inspections, unlike smaller venues and fairs. Instead, the largest theme parks like Walt Disney World and Universal conduct their own inspections and have their own protocols, but they must report to the state any injury or death.<\/p>\n

Records by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services show that a 32-year-old man experienced notable chest pain while riding Hiccup\u2019s Wing Gliders back in May. <\/p>\n

Hiccup’s Wing Gliders (Universal Orlando)<\/p>\n

In June, those same records state that two other guests suffered conditions while riding on Stardust Racers: a 63-year-old man who experienced dizziness, and a 47-year-old woman who had a \u201cvisual disturbance. Both of those guests rode the roller coaster on separate days and had pre-existing conditions.<\/p>\n

The agency released this statement to News 6 regarding the incident:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is aware of the incident and currently has an investigator on scene. Universal has been extremely cooperative and has complied with all required notifications. This is an ongoing investigation, and more information will be released as it is available.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 In the wake of a guest dying after riding an Epic Universe roller coaster on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9575,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[4424,6113,1335,139,141,140,9456,9457,2411,1794,3434],"class_list":{"0":"post-9574","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-death-investigation","9":"tag-epic-universe","10":"tag-orange-county","11":"tag-orlando","12":"tag-orlando-headlines","13":"tag-orlando-news","14":"tag-stardust-racers","15":"tag-stardust-racers-death","16":"tag-theme-parks","17":"tag-universal-epic-universe","18":"tag-universal-orlando"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}