A rockstar’s stage dive went horribly wrong leaving a fan paralysed after he landed on her head.
Bird Piche, 24, was enjoying the punk rock vibes at Trophy Eyes’ concert in Buffalo, New York’s Mohawk Place last month, a when the band’s frontman John Floreani took a leap of faith into the crowd.
The moment, caught on camera and circulated on Reddit, shows Floreani being hoisted by the pumped-up audience. Before the fateful jump, Bird, identifiable by her pink hair, is seen rocking out near the stage in the packed venue that holds 230 people.
READ MORE: ‘Portal’ connecting cities 3,000 miles apart takes grim turn as 9/11 is ‘mocked’
Click for more of the latest news from across the world from the Daily Star.
Disaster struck as Floreani jumped from the stage, crashing down onto Bird’s head. While the singer was quickly picked up by the crowd, it seems no one realised the severity of Bird’s injuries.
(Image: REGI VARGHESE/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
She disappears from the 13-second video, which her mate Leo Wolter Tejera described to the press: “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,” reports the Mirror.
According to Wolter, some Reddit users who were at the concert thought Bird had simply “fainted” and even tried to help by getting her a cold cloth. However, others noticed she hadn’t got up and the music was abruptly stopped as reality set in.
“She wasn’t getting up, and John, the singer, was like right there with her,” Wolter said.
(Image: REGI VARGHESE/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
The dedicated vocalist didn’t hesitate to accompany his fan in the ambulance to Erie County Medical Center (ECMC), where she underwent “emergency trauma surgery.”
Bird faced a serious blow to her spinal cord, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover her spiralling medical bills, hinting at a lengthy hospital stay. So far almost $60,00 (£48,000) has been raised towards a $100,000 (£80,000) target.
Wolter said that once she’s given the green light, she’ll be facing a gruelling recovery process. “To my understanding and the conversation we’ve heard so far from doctors is with catastrophic spinal injuries, you just can’t tell and they take a lot of time and patience to see what the outcome is really gonna be,” he told reporters.
(Image: Bird Piché/Facebook)
Trophy Eyes are absolutely gutted by the incident, saying it’s rocked them to their core. “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,” the band said.
“Our friend, Bird, is now in recovery but still has a long road ahead for them.”
A staff member at Mohawk Place said the venue has been strictly enforcing a “no crowd surfing policy” for over a decade.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.