A fan at PNC Park fell over the outfield wall and onto the track on Wednesday night during the Pittsburgh Pirates’ matchup with the Chicago Cubs.
In the seventh inning of the contest, a man in the right field bleachers at the stadium suddenly fell headfirst over the outfield wall. The person appeared to jump up before flipping forward multiple times on his way down to the warning track. In total, the fall was about 21 feet.
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The fan remained down motionless for several minutes as players and officials started to realize what had happened. The incident came right after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double, which put the Pirates up 4-3 at the time.
After being tended to for about five minutes, the fan was eventually loaded up onto a stretcher and taken off the field and to a local hospital in critical condition. He was seen with blood on his face, and first responders continued to treat him as they drove off. Details about his condition are not yet known. Pittsburgh Police VCU detectives are currently investigating.
The game resumed after about a 10-minute delay. Players on both teams were visibly shaken up during the incident. A second person jumped down onto the field in what appeared to be an effort to help the fan who fell, too.
“Tonight, during the seventh inning of the game at PNC Park, an adult male fell from the right field bleachers onto the field of play,” the Pirates said in a statement. “Pittsburgh EMS, as well as the Pirates and Cubs athletic training teams and other PNC Park personnel reacted and responded immediately and administered care.
“He was transported to Allegheny General Hospital. No further information is available at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”
McCutchen spoke out about the incident on social media after the game.
The Pirates held on to grab the one-run win once the game started back up. The two teams will conclude their three-game series on Thursday afternoon.
“I just want to offer thoughts and prayers with the incident that happened earlier in the game,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said, via Pittsburgh Baseball Now’s Danny Demilio. “Thank both our medical staff, the Cubs medical staff, EMS, everybody that got to the gentleman, and just ask everybody to keep him in your prayers.”
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