Neck injury on roller coaster proves fatal

New York -- The results of an autopsy will determine whether a wrongful death suit is filed against the owners of Coney Island's Cyclone roller coaster.

Keith Shirasawa, 53, of Redwood City, Calif., died following emergency surgery to repair a neck injury he received while riding the 80-year-old roller coaster in August, The New York Post reported Monday.

Girlfriend Linda Walker, who chose not to go on the ride, says Shirasawa's neck snapped forward during the coaster's first 85-foot drop.

"He came out and had a look of pain on his face and was holding his neck," Walker said. "I asked him what was wrong, and he said something had happened, and he had lost the feeling in his fingers."

Shirasawa was taken to Coney Island Hospital where doctors found he had fractured three vertebrae in his neck and would need emergency surgery.

A spokesman for Astroland, which owns the roller coaster, says Cyclone operators weren't told of the injury and a report on the accident was never filed with police.

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Copyright 2007 by United Press International.