An Alabama family is planning to sue Walt Disney World after they say a snake fell on an 8-year-old boy and bit him, leading to a fatal heart attack in his great-grandmother.
The family says the snake bite at Disney’s Animal Kingdom triggered a panic attack in the elderly woman.
Attorney Matt Morgan says the woman was in a wheelchair when the snake bite occurred in 2014 but otherwise was in good health.
He says the non-venomous green and brown snake dropped from a tree.
“When this occurred the grandmother who was traveling with the boy in the park screamed out to her daughter, ‘Your son’s being bit by a snake,’ and started to have what would be a panic attack.”
Morgan later clarified the woman was the boy’s great-grandmother. He says she suffered breathing problems and died two days later of a heart attack at a hospital.
Disney says the allegations mischaracterize what happened.
Amy Green is a reporter with WMFE in Orlando. WMFE is a partner with Health News Florida, which receives support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.