A Rancho Cucamonga woman said her 8-year-old son was severely injured by an aggressive hug from a Disneyland actor dressed as Pluto.
The boy was “tossed around like a rag doll” and suffered injuries to his back and neck after he embraced the costumed character, said Laurie Ramirez, who captured the incident on cellphone video.
The woman’s son was transported to a hospital, where he “spent all afternoon in the emergency room,” she said.
Ramirez said a Disney representative met the family at the hospital and the company offered to pay for the boy’s treatment.
Ramirez said she was told that the actor was disciplined as a result of the incident.
Reached by phone for comment Monday morning, a Disney spokeswoman could not confirm whether the company had offered to pay for the boy’s medical expenses or if the employee had been disciplined.
A later email from Disneyland Resort stated: “We are in contact with the family and are in the process of gathering the facts.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously reported that Disney confirmed it disciplined an actor and offered to pay for medical treatment. The article has been updated. A video with the same error was removed.
