{"id":448826,"date":"2025-05-01T21:09:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T21:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=448826"},"modified":"2025-05-01T23:12:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T23:12:28","slug":"devastated-fan-critical-after-falling-from-stands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=448826","title":{"rendered":"'Devastated': Fan critical after falling from stands"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man who fell more than six metres from the stands during the Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> and Chicago Cubs<\/a> MLB match is in critical condition.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Public Safety, which includes Pittsburgh Police and EMS, posted on X that the \u201cincident is being treated as accidental in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

The unidentified man fell onto the warning track in right field just as Pirates star Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put Pittsburgh ahead 4-3. Players began waving frantically for medical personnel and pointing to the man.<\/p>\n

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The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as stadium personnel, before being removed from the field on a cart. He was taken to the trauma centre at Allegheny General Hospital, where he remained on Friday morning AEST.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh owner Bob Nutting said the club was \u201cdeeply saddened\u201d and \u201ctruly heartbroken\u201d over what he called a \u201cterrible accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIn times like these, we must come together, support one another, and keep him and his loved ones in our prayers,\u201d Nutting said in a statement. \u201cWe also want to thank and appreciate the efforts of the first responders who rushed to his attention and provided him with compassionate care."<\/p>\n

The railing that runs along the Clemente Wall in right field is over 90cm in height, which exceeds the building code requirements of 66cm, according to Pirates vice president of communications Brian Warecki.<\/p>\n

Fans were sitting in the front row above the Clemente Wall ahead of the series finale between the two teams.<\/p>\n

McCutchen, a five-time All-Star and franchise icon, said the team was \u201cdevastated," adding that they prayed together after the game. Asked to describe his viewpoint of the sequence, McCutchen declined, saying he is trying not to think about it and is more focused on the man\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just hoping for the best for him,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope he pulls through because he\u2019s the reason why we are here. He\u2019s the reason why we play the game. People that show their support so we can do something we love, partly because of him and because of fans. So, I just pray that he\u2019s all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pirates manager Derek Shelton and Cubs manager Craig Counsell both alerted the umpire crew of the situation immediately after the play.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though it\u2019s 350 feet away (more than 100 metres) or whatever it is, I mean the fact of how it went down and then laying motionless while the play is going on, I mean Craig saw it, I saw it. We both got out there,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cI think the umpires saw it because of the way it kicked. It\u2019s extremely unfortunate. That\u2019s an understatement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Players from both teams could be seen praying and McCutchen held a cross that hung from his neck while the fan was taken off the field.<\/p>\n

The game was paused for several minutes while the man received medical attention but there was no official stoppage in play.<\/p>\n

Police said any medical update on the fan will be provided by medical personnel in conjunction with the man's family.<\/p>\n

Fans have died from steep falls at baseball stadiums in the past.<\/p>\n

In 2015, Atlanta Braves season ticket holder Gregory K. Murrey flipped over guard rails from the upper deck at Turner Field.<\/p>\n

That was four years after Shannon Stone, a firefighter attending a game with his 6-year-old son, fell about 20 feet after reaching out for a foul ball tossed into the stands at the Texas Rangers\u2019 former stadium.<\/p>\n

Both incidents prompted scrutiny over the height of guard rails at stadiums. The Rangers raised theirs, while the Braves settled a lawsuit with Murrey\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

A spectator at a 2022 NFL game at Pittsburgh\u2019s Acrisure Stadium died following a fall on an escalator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A man who fell more than six metres from the stands during the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs MLB match is in critical condition. Pittsburgh […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":448828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448826"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=448826"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":448831,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448826\/revisions\/448831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/448828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=448826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=448826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=448826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}