Man Loses Sight While Riding Universal Roller Coaster

ORLANDO, Fla.,None — A tourist was injured on one of Universal Orlando's biggest attractions and the man said he was hit straight in the eye with an unidentified object.

Tourists like Brenda Hyara were shocked when WFTV told them what happened to a man on the Dragon Challenge roller coaster at Universal's Islands of Adventure this past Sunday.

"It makes you think twice," said Hyara.

The man injured, Carlos Montalvo of Puerto Rico, was on the Harry Potter-themed roller coaster Sunday when something hit him in the eye, officials said.

Montalvo was taken to ORMC where he underwent surgery, and he told WFTV over the phone Tuesday that he only had one good eye before the incident, and now he is completely blind.

"I would have thought Universal, being such a big company, would have a lot more safety aspects," said Bally Dhaliwal, a tourist.

But in a statement, Universal said it "...spent hours after the incident thoroughly inspecting and reinspecting the ride."

The coaster was shut down around 6:00 p.m. Sunday to 1:30 p.m. on Monday.

Universal said it," ...found absolutely nothing that could have contributed to this incident and we believe our coaster is safe."

Sasha Pacheco is from Miami and plans on visiting the park on Wednesday.

It's a concern, it's not on the forefront of my mind," said Pacheco.

She thinks it was a freak accident, but Montalvo, who's still at ORMC on Tuesday, has already hired an Orlando lawyer on his vacation that he said has turned into a nightmare.

WFTV