Military Veteran Dies Shortly After Passing Out on Disney World Ride
An 83-year-old man died last month after fainting on the PeopleMover attraction at Florida’s Disney World.
Joseph Masters of Palm Coast, Florida, passed out at about 4:45 p.m. on Sept 25, an Orange County Sheriff’s report said, according to Florida Politics.
The report said the victim’s wife, Alice, “began to panic.”
“She began asking for help and attempted to contact family members who were at the park. As the ride came to its end, Disney staff and security responded to the scene where CPR was initiated,” the report said.
The report describes the chaos that ensued as the ride kept moving.
Report: Man dies after riding @WaltDisneyWorld PeopleMover; woman goes into labor after ride@GabrielleRusson reportinghttps://t.co/MjidZujDCr#FlaPol
— Florida Politics (@Fla_Pol) October 18, 2022
Masters was rushed to Celebration Hospital but was pronounced dead there about half an hour after he arrived.
Veteran dies after riding Disney World attraction with wife. Joseph Masters, an 83-year-old from Palm Coast suffered an apparent heart attack on Sept. 25 after riding the slow-moving tram. https://t.co/87qbnqJJCp via @nypost
— Heather Hunter (@heatherhunterdc) October 19, 2022
“It was later learned Joseph had a pacemaker implanted and was diagnosed with an extensive list of medical conditions to include diabetes and hypertension,” the sheriff’s report said.
A Celebration doctor determined Masters “had a large blockage of an artery, near the right side of his heart.”
“Joseph’s death was deemed natural given the aforementioned circumstances,” the sheriff’s report said.
Masters, who was originally from Teaneck, New Jersey and later lived in Mount Hope, New York, served in Army National Guard at Camp Smith Military Base for 23 years, according to his obituary.
A Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services report indicated Masters and 11 other people were injured on Disney and Universal theme park rides from July through September.
His widow has come to grips with his passing.
“I tell everybody now that my husband died in his happy place because he loved Disney,” Alice Masters said, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
She said her husband’s last words were, “Here we go,” as the ride moved faster.
She described her husband as “like a little kid in a candy store” when they went to Disney World.
She called the response of Disney workers to the emergency “wonderful.”
The 83-year-old’s death was the first reported at a major Florida theme park since May 2021.
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