Health & Medicine

4-Year-Old Boy Has Stroke Following Roller Coaster Ride

Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Dec 15, 2014 11:51 PM EST

A 4-year-old boy suffered a stroke while riding a roller coaster, according to recent findings in the journal Pediatric Neurology.

In May 2013, he took a trip on a 30-foot high coaster that went 25 miles per hour before getting on a second one that was 23 feet taller than the one before.

Shortly following his trip to the amusement park, which was not named, the child began vomiting and the left side of his face began to sag.

CBS reported that he was then rushed to the hospital as doctors determined that he must have had a stroke due to the whiplash of the ride.

Though strokes following roller coaster rides are rare, the jerky movements combined with the gravitational pull on his head and heck caused a torn carotid, according to Dr. Jose Biller, who treated him. A blood clot from the carotid is responsible for his stroke, according to health officials.

Six months later, the patient has come a long way. He's regained a great deal of his muscle strength and is working to further recover.

"He walks with a limp and he needs help getting dressed. But he can move his left arm and grip things," Biller, also chair of the Department of Neurology of Loyola University Chicago.

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