[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A young woman has been left with a “catastrophic” injury after a stage diving incident at a New York concert went horribly wrong.
Late last month, New Yorkers gathered at the Mohawk Place live music venue in Buffalo to see Australian punk-rock band Trophy Eyes perform. For Bird Piché, the night should have been unforgettable one, as the band is one of her favorites. But it ended up being unforgettable for a completely different and tragic reason.
In footage uploaded to Reddit from the concert, Trophy Eyes lead singer John Floreani can be seen leaping off the stage into the crowd of people. And shockingly, Bird took the brunt of John’s landing. Family friend Leo Wolter Tejera told WGRZ, “there must just not have been enough people around there to catch him, or they weren’t aware that he was going to jump.” He added:
“The video is wild because unless you knew that someone was hurt in the video, you’d never expect that. Like it’s just an average stage dive.”
The Reddit user who captured the footage recalled in their upload:
“I was at the Buffalo show last night. Trophy Eyes were two minutes into the first song of their set and the show was abruptly halted. A girl in the middle of the crowd ended up getting seriously injured after this stage dive. I left immediately once I saw the state she was in, I heard the show was cancelled once the ambulance showed up. Really hoping for the best possible outcome for that fan.”
Apparently, John landed directly on Bird’s head causing her to collapse. Leo told the outlet that concertgoers initially believed she fainted, so some went to get her a cold cloth. But after realizing she wasn’t getting back up, “they took her right to the hospital into emergency trauma surgery, and then she was admitted.” According to Leo, John rode with her in the ambulance.
According to a GoFundMe setup to help alleviate medical expenses, Bird suffered significant trauma to her spinal cord:
“Bird Piché suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury while attending a concert on April 30th and underwent an extensive surgery. She has a long recovery ahead and will need all the help she can get. It is still too early to know what her prognosis is but after leaving the hospital she will need to go to a rehab facility. She will obviously not be able to work during this time.”
Leo explained that she’s now partially paralyzed and can only use her arms. OMG. How completely awful.
Trophy Eyes has since addressed the tragedy with a statement, too. They explained:
“Out of respect for the family, we have refrained from speaking about this publicly so far, but with the blessing of their family we are now able to say how truly heartbroken we are to be here now. Our friend, Bird, is now in recovery but still has a long road ahead for them.”
What makes things all the worse is that the stage-diving incident should have never happened. Not only is the practice extremely dangerous, but a Mohawk Place bartender told WKBW that the venue has had a strict “no crowd surfing policy” since 2011. And it also has signs posted AND lets performers know in advance.
Such a complete tragedy. Our thoughts are with Bird.
[Image via Bird Piché/Facebook]
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